Latest news with #Gaye
India Gazette
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- India Gazette
US Supreme Court declines to hear copyright claim that alleged Ed Sheeran copied Marvin Gaye track
Los Angeles [US], June 17 (ANI): Ed Sheeran has scored a major legal win as the Supreme Court rejected a copyright lawsuit alleging that the British hitmaker's 2014 hit song 'Thinking Out Loud' copied music chords from Marvin Gaye's classic 'Let's Get It On'. On Sunday, the Supreme Court decided not to hear the case brought by Structured Asset Sales (SAS), which owns a portion of the rights to Gaye's song. The decision keeps in place the lower court decision that Sheeran was not liable in the copyright infringement lawsuit, as per Fox News. SAS, which is owned by investment banker David Pullman, had argued that Sheeran used the copyrighted melody, harmony and rhythm of Gaye's 'Let's Get It On.' The case was dismissed in 2023 after U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton decided that the musical elements Sheeran was accused of copying were too common. The dismissal followed Sheeran's victory in a separate copyright lawsuit over the song that was brought by the family of singer-songwriter Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Gaye's song 'It's devastating to be accused of stealing someone else's song when we've put so much work into our livelihoods,' Sheeran said outside the courthouse following that verdict SAS appealed Stanton's decision, though the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judge's decision last year. Meanwhile, Ed is basking in the success of his latest song 'Sapphire' that he made in collaboration with Arijit Singh. Sharing what went behind the track, Ed in an Instagram post wrote, 'Sapphire was the first song I finished for Play that made me know where the album was heading. It's why I finished the recording process in Goa surrounded by some of the best musicians in India. It was an incredible creative process. I shot the music video with @liampethickphoto and @nicminns across my India tour earlier this year, we wanted to showcase the beauty and breadth of the country and its culture.' He added, 'The final jigsaw piece for me was getting @arijitsingh on the record, I'll make a post about that in a few days but it was a journey to get there and such an amazing day of music and family. Me and him have done a full Punjabi version of the song that will come out in the next few weeks, which has a lot more of him on it. This is the album version of the song, and my favourite song on the album. Hope you guys love it. Sapphire out now x.' (ANI)
See - Sada Elbalad
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Supreme Court Blocks Bid to Reopen "Thinking Out Loud" Copyright Lawsuit against Ed Sheeran
Yara Sameh On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a lawsuit against musician Ed Sheeran that alleged his hit single "Thinking Out Loud" copied Marvin Gaye's iconic song "Let's Get It On." The Supreme Court justices declined to hear an appeal filed by Structured Asset Sales, a company owned by investment banker David Pullman, that owns a partial stake in Gaye's 1973 song. Structured Asset Sales first sued Sheeran, his record label Warner Music, and music publisher Sony Music Publishing in 2023, seeking monetary damages over alleged similarities between the two songs. A U.S. District Judge sided with Sheeran in the original case, concluding that the song's melody, harmony, and rhythm were too common to require copyright protection. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision last year. In a separate 2023 copyright lawsuit over the same issue filed by the heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye's co-writer on the Motown classic, a jury in Manhattan federal court ruled in favor of Sheeran. Speaking outside the court at the time, Sheeran said: 'We spent the past eight years talking about two songs with dramatically different lyrics, melodies and four chords which are also different and used by songwriters every day all over the world.' He continued: 'These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before 'Let's Get It On' was written and will be used to make music long after we are all gone. They are in a songwriter's alphabet, our toolkit, and should be there for all of us to use. No one owns them or the way they are played, in the same way nobody owns the color blue.' The Let's Get It On case followed another high-profile lawsuit by Gaye's estate, in which Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were ordered to pay more than $5 million in 2018 after a court found that Thicke's global smash "Blurred Lines" copied Gaye's 1977 hit Got to Give It Up. read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks Videos & Features Video: Trending Lifestyle TikToker Valeria Márquez Shot Dead during Live Stream News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan Technology 50-Year Soviet Spacecraft 'Kosmos 482' Crashes into Indian Ocean News 3 Killed in Shooting Attack in Thailand
Metro
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Ed Sheeran's copyright lawsuit might actually be over after a decade
Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud lawsuit drama may finally be coming to an end after years of court cases since the bop was released 11 years ago. The soft rock hit Thinking Out Loud from Sheeran's second studio album X was released in 2014. If you think you haven't heard it, you're wrong. The song has a stronghold at every wedding to take place in Britain, Ireland, and the US, since its release and was on every mainstream radio station at least once a day for two years after its launch. The song was such a massive success that when music journalists compared it to Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On, copyright lawsuits came in guns blazing. In the latest update on June 16, the Supreme Court announced that it would not be taking on a copyright case, which accused Sheeran's song of infringing upon Gaye's copyright. The court did not detail why they decided not to take the case, but it could have something to do with the numerous outcomes in other lower courts that Sheeran has won. The first suit levelled at Sheeran was in 2016 when the daughter of Ed Townsend, the man who co-wrote the Gaye song in 1973. The case ended in 2017 with Sheeran being cleared and avoiding millions in possible copyright fees, avoiding the fate of Pharrell and Robin Thicke, who paid a hefty fine after their Blurred Lines track was deemed too similar to Gaye's Got To Give It Up. The second lawsuit came in 2018 from Structured Asset Sales (SAS), which is estimated to have an 11% ownership stake in Gaye's music. The case was heard in 2023 and resulted in Sheeran winning the case again. Speaking outside the court in 2023, Sheeran commented: 'We spent the past eight years talking about two songs with dramatically different lyrics, melodies and four chords which are also different and used by songwriters every day all over the world.' He added: 'These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before 'Let's Get It On' was written and will be used to make music long after we are all gone. 'They are in a songwriter's alphabet, our toolkit, and should be there for all of us to use. No one owns them or the way they are played, in the same way nobody owns the colour blue.' The 2023 victory was, of course, appealed, but led to this Supreme Court dismissal in June 2025. In a fun twist to the relentless story, a separate case SAS may now go to the federal court. In a statement to Billboard, SAS owner and industry executive David Pullman said that the separate case 'will now go forward'. 'Defendants' fear has always been the sound recording of 'Let's Get It On',' Pullman said. 'The U.S. Supreme Court was aware of this and understands that the case will go forward and may very well be back at the U.S. Supreme Court at a later date.' However, the idea of yet another case has been firmly rejected by Sheeran's lawyer. Sheeran's attorney, Donald Zakarin, has dismissed the suggestion that the case can be revived and emphasised that Sheeran and his co-writer Amy Wadge, created the song independently. 'Pullman's completely unauthorised and improper purported registration of the Marvin Gaye recording of 'Let's Get It On,' 50 years after it was created, will not change that fact,' Zakarin told Billboard. 'If he truly believed that the second case he filed was so compelling – which it is not – he would not have spent the last two years pursuing his failed first case.' Amy Wadge, who co-wrote the song, has spoken about her relief at the decade-long back-and-forth finally, seemingly, coming to an end. 'Ten long years it has been, so to get that ruling is an incredible relief,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'It has just rolled on, but yes, it's done.' The singer was open about how the financial loss of a negative outcome could have ruined her. 'The absolute truth is that song changed my life. I didn't have a hit until I was 37. Then I was able to feel like I'd had a hit for a year and then all of a sudden it felt like the walls were surrounding. 'It was incredibly frightening. Had we lost that case, I could have effectively lost everything. More Trending 'I just knew that had they been successful, it really would have caused a huge issue for creativity in general.' The music video of Thinking Out Loud was released a decade ago and as of February 2025, has garnered 3.8 billion streams on YouTube. The song was the first to ever spend an entire year in the UK Top 40 and is one of the most-streamed songs on Spotify. Despite its incredible success, it is actually Sheeran's second most successful song ever, behind the 2017 hit Shape of You. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Steps narrowly missed out on Glastonbury legends slot for devastating reason MORE: Liam Gallagher hits back after Oasis fans branded 'fat, drunk and rowdy' MORE: 'Secret Glastonbury performers' celebrate UK number 1 album weeks before festival
The Hill
6 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Supreme Court won't revive copyright suit over Ed Sheeran's ‘Thinking Out Loud'
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to revive a copyright challenge to Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud' that accused the pop star of unlawfully emulating the late Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On.' The justices turned away an appeal by Structured Asset Sales, a partial owner to the rights of Gaye's 1973 hit, which filed suit in 2018 over alleged similarities between the songs. Lower courts deemed Sheeran not liable for copyright infringement, finding the singer's 2014 hit did not unlawfully rip off Gaye's song because the earlier tune was too mainstream to be legally protected. 'Even when combined, the four-chord progression and syncopated harmonic rhythm at issue are too unoriginal for copyright protection,' wrote Judge Michael Park of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 'Plaintiff failed to rebut evidence that this same combination appears in well-known songs predating Let's Get It On, leaving no triable issues of fact as to the originality of the alleged combination.' 'And no reasonable jury could find that the two songs, taken as a whole, are substantially similar in light of their dissimilar melodies and lyrics,' the judge continued, affirming a district court's ruling. Structured Asset Sales, owned by investment banker David Pullman, owns about 11 percent of the rights to Gaye's song and argued that the lawsuit should not have been thrown out. Hillel Parness, a lawyer for Structured Asset Sales, wrote in its petition to the justices that the law surrounding the company's copyright claim is unsettled and should be addressed by the nation's highest court. 'The rights of thousands of legacy musical composers and artists, of many of the most beloved and enduring pieces of popular music, are at the center of the controversy,' Parness said. Sheeran previously saw victory in a separate copyright lawsuit brought by the family of Ed Townsend, the co-writer of Gaye's song. A jury in 2023 said that he didn't steal key components of the tune. After that verdict, the singer told reporters that the claim should not have been brought in the first place. 'I am just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy,' he said at the time, according to the Associated Press. 'I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
US Supreme Court rejects bid to revive copyright suit over Ed Sheeran hit 'Thinking Out Loud'
By Blake Brittain WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court turned away on Monday a bid to revive a copyright infringement lawsuit accusing pop star Ed Sheeran of unlawfully copying from the late singer Marvin Gaye's 1973 classic "Let's Get It On" in his 2014 hit song "Thinking Out Loud." The justices declined to hear an appeal by Structured Asset Sales, a company owned by investment banker David Pullman that has a copyright interest in Gaye's song, of a judge's decision to dismiss the case. The company had sued Sheeran, his record label Warner Music and music publisher Sony Music Publishing, seeking monetary damages over alleged similarities between the two songs. Gaye, who died in 1984, collaborated with singer-songwriter Ed Townsend, who died in 2003, to write "Let's Get It On," which topped the Billboard charts. Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2015. Structured Asset Sales owns a share of the rights to "Let's Get It On" that previously belonged to Townsend. Its lawsuit accused Sheeran of misusing copyrighted elements of "Let's Get It On" including its melody, harmony and rhythm. U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton decided in 2023 that the musical elements that Sheeran was accused of copying were too common to merit copyright protection. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheldthe decision last year. The 2nd Circuit also rejected the Structured Asset Sales argument that Stanton should have considered elements of "Let's Get It On" that were not found in the "deposit copy" of the song's sheet music submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office. In a 2023 trial in a separate copyright lawsuit over the same issue filed by Townsend's heirs, a jury in Manhattan federal court ruled in favor of Sheeran. "It's devastating to be accused of stealing someone else's song when we've put so much work into our livelihoods," Sheeran said outside the courthouse following that verdict. Structured Asset Sales has filed another lawsuit against Sheeran based on its rights to the audio recording of "Let's Get It On." That case is currently on hold.
