'Thinking Out Loud' Copyright Case: Ed Sheeran Wins

A U.S. court has concluded that Ed Sheeran did not steal Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" when composing "Thinking Out Loud."

The British singer-songwriter had vehemently denied appropriating parts of the song for his massive global smash in 2014.

Sheeran, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Publishing were accused of violating the copyright of Gaye's co-writer, according to Sheeran's heirs.

In the New York trial, Sheeran had declared that he would end his musical career if found guilty.

"If that happens, I'm done, I'm stopping," he said when asked about the toll the trial at Manhattan federal court was taking on him.

After the jury decided that Sheeran "independently" wrote his song, he got up and embraced his team.

"It looks like I'm not going to have to retire from my day job after all," he said. "But at the same time, I am absolutely frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all.

"If the jury had decided this matter the other way we might as well say goodbye to the creative freedom of songwriters."

"I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake," he added.

Sheeran declared that he was "obviously very happy" with the decision while speaking outside of court, BBC reported.

Before Gaye's popular song from 1973, according to a musicologist testifying on Sheeran's behalf in court, the four-chord pattern in question was utilized in several other songs.

The accusation of copyright infringement against Sheeran was made by Kathryn Townsend Griffin, the daughter of Gaye's co-writer Ed Townsend. She hurried by the reporters while smoking what appeared to be a cigarillo, saying only, "God is good all the time, all the time God is good."

Sheeran performed and played guitar at the civil trial while performing portions of "Thinking Out Loud."

He claimed that he co-wrote the song with his friend Amy Wadge at his home in England and that his grandparents and a just-started romantic connection served as inspiration.

Ilene Farkas, Sheeran's attorney, explained to the jury that the two songs' similar chord progressions and rhythms were "the letters of the alphabet of music."

"These are basic musical building blocks that songwriters now and forever must be free to use, or all of us who love music will be poorer for it," she said.

Townsend's heirs' attorney Keisha Rice stated during the trial that her clients were not asserting ownership of fundamental musical parts but rather "the way in which these common elements were uniquely combined."

"Mr. Sheeran is counting on you to be very, very overwhelmed by his commercial success," she said, urging jurors to use their "common sense" to decide whether the songs are similar.

At the High Court in London last year, Sheeran prevailed in a copyright dispute involving his 2017 song "Shape of You."

A company owned by investment banker David Pullman that has copyright interests in the Gaye song is suing Sheeran over his song "Thinking Out Loud."

Gaye's heirs won a $5.3 million verdict in 2015 after suing Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, claiming their song "Blurred Lines" plagiarized Gaye's "Got to Give It Up."