'I'd have to be an idiot to do that': Ed Sheeran rejects claim he copied Marvin Gaye's song
Ed Sheeran has taken the witness stand in a New York courtroom as Mark McQuillan reports
Ed Sheeran has said he would have to be an "idiot" to copy other artists' songs onstage in front of crowds of thousands, as he took to the witness stand in his copyright trial.
The British singer-songwriter is facing allegations he ripped off Marvin Gaye's 1973 soul classic 'Let's Get it On' in his 2014 hit song 'Thinking Out Loud.'
He took the witness stand in a New York courtroom on Wednesday to defend the allegations in a civil trial brought by the heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer on the song, that he violated their copyright.
Video was played in the courtroom, showing Sheeran segueing between the two songs as he performed onstage.
In response to the footage, Sheeran, 32, said it was “quite simple to weave in and out of songs” that are in the same key.
“I’d be an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that,” Sheeran told the court, in response to the accusation that he copied songs.
Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get it On'
Earlier in the day, a lawyer for Townsend's heirs, Ben Crump, had told jurors that the merging of the two songs was tantamount to “a confession.”
“We have a smoking gun,” he said of the concert footage showing Sheeran flipping between the two songs.
Mr Crump said the case was about “giving credit where credit is due.”
Sheeran's lawyer, Ilene Farkas, insisted that the star and a co-writer, Amy Wadge, wrote their song independently and did not steal from Townsend and Gaye.
She told the court the pair “created this heartfelt song without copying ‘Let’s Get It On.'”
Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud'
The chord progression and basic building blocks in Sheeran's song are frequently used, and didn't appear first in 'Let's Get It On', his lawyer said.
Townsend, who also wrote the 1958 R&B doo-wop hit 'For Your Love', was a singer, songwriter and lawyer, who died in 2003.
Kathryn Townsend Griffin, his daughter, is the plaintiff leading the lawsuit.
“I think Mr Sheeran is a great artist with a great future,” she said in her testimony, adding that she didn't want it to get to this point of the case. “But I have to protect my father’s legacy.”
'Let’s Get It On' has featured in countless films and commercials and racked up hundreds of millions of streams, spins and radio plays since it came out in 1973.
'Thinking Out Loud' won a Grammy for song of the year in 2016.
The lawsuit was filed in 2017, and the trial is expected to last up to two weeks. Gaye’s estate is not involved in the case.
Last year, Sheeran won a High Court trial in the UK after he was accused of copying grime artist Sami Chokri's 'Oh Why' song in his hit track 'Shape of You'.
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