Ed Sheeran accused of ripping off the 'heart' of Marvin Gaye's Let's Get it On - Reports

10 August 2016 - 16:14 By Sefiso Hlongwane
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British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is being sued over claims that his blockbuster hit, Thinking Out Loud, copied Marvin Gaye track Let's Get It On.

The heirs of the late co-writers, Kathryn Townsend, Helen McDonald and Cherrigale Townsend, have reportedly sought advice from a jury to discover whether they're owed damages, believing Ed's song to copy key parts of the 1973 classic.

 

According to various reports, the court papers read: "The Defendants copied the heart of Let's' and repeated it continuously throughout Thinking.

"The melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic compositions of Thinking are substantially and/or strikingly similar to the drum composition of Let's."

Ed Sheeran and his record label are yet to issue a response.

 

This is the second time the musician has got into trouble for allegedly copying another song. In June he was reportedly sued for over R265 million by The X Factor winner Matt Cardle's songwriters who claimed that his ballad, Photograph, was "a note-for-note copy" of their song Amazing.

In March 2015, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were ordered to pay approximately R96 million to Marvin Gaye's family, following claims that their controversial chart-topper Blurred Lines copied the Motown musician's 1977 track Got To Give It Up.

Ed wrote Thinking Out Loud alongside Amy Wadge. It became the first song to be streamed over 500 million times on Spotify and its video has racked up over 1.2 billion views on YouTube.

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