(PatriotWise.com) — British singer Ed Sheeran appeared in a Manhattan court accused of stealing a Marvin Gaye song. Kathryn Townsend Griffin, daughter of the song’s co-writer Ed Townsend, filed a lawsuit in 2017, saying Sheeran copied the classic Marvin Gaye hit “Let’s Get It On.” Jurors were instructed to listen to Gaye’s 1973 hit alongside Sheeran’s 2014 song “Thinking Out Loud” and compare the two.
The trial was immersed with drama from its opening day. Sheeran confessed to the court that he does not know how to read music and is not a great guitar player. He said writing songs comes naturally to him, and while on the stand, he took up his guitar and started singing the song in question.
Additionally, the trial was interrupted when Townsend Griffin collapsed in the courtroom. The room was sealed while emergency personnel attended. She was taken to the hospital, and the trial continued.
This is the third time the award-winning artist has been sued for alleged copyright.
The first claim was in 2016 and related to his 2015 hit “Photograph.” Songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard sued the singer for $20 million, saying he had copied musical sequences from their 2012 song “Amazing.” The case was settled for an undisclosed amount.
In 2022, he appeared in a London courtroom when songwriters Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue alleged his hit “Shape of You” replicated the song “Oh Why,” released in 2015 and performed by singer Sami Switch. He won that case after he argued that the melody in question was so common that it could not be contributed to one artist.
The British-born musician claims he has been writing and singing songs since the age of eleven. He is one of the world’s most successful recording artists and has sold over 150 million records. He is the winner of four Grammy Awards (including one for “Thinking Out Loud”), five Brit Awards, and six Billboard Music Awards.
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