Ed Sheeran Triumphs in Copyright Showdown Over 'Thinking Out Loud'

In a melodious twist of fate that would make even the most stoic of music lovers chuckle, Ed Sheeran has emerged victorious in a legal battle over his beloved hit, *Thinking Out Loud*. That’s right—our favorite redhead has cracked the code of copyright conundrums, as a U.S. appeals court decided that, surprise, surprise, he did not plagiarize Marvin Gaye’s *Let’s Get It On*. If there’s a battle of the ballads, Sheeran has certainly danced his way to the front, leaving Structured Asset Sales, the plaintiff, to pick up the confetti.

Now, it’s not every day that a court ruling feels like the resolution of a soap opera, but this one certainly has all the drama. Just last May, Judge Louis Stanton—a name you might want to remember for its role in courtroom rock ’n’ roll history—dismissed the case from Structured Asset Sales, reportedly reversing his initial ruling that the lawsuit deserved a jury’s gavel. That’s right, this is the same judge who had previously presided over a different Sheeran-Gaye crossover episode, where the jury ruled in favor of Sheeran against the estate of Ed Townsend, the co-writer of Gaye’s iconic track.

In the original 2018 lawsuit, SAS was seeking a staggering $100 million in damages after the Townsend estate made their own entrance onto this musical stage. But hold your applause, because last September, the Townsend estate decided to withdraw their appeal, leaving SAS to carry on the good fight alone—a bit like the last kid picked for dodgeball, really.

Founded by our friendly neighborhood investment banker, David Pullman—who’s basically the David Bowie of financial securities thanks to his invention of “Bowie bonds”—SAS has a vested interest in Townsend’s songwriting credits for *Let’s Get It On*. It’s a financial love story with a twist, and not the kind of twist you’d expect from a pop ballad.

Sheeran's legal team had a rather convincing argument, claiming that the two music elements at the heart of the case—the song’s chord progression and harmonic rhythm—were as commonplace as a cat video on the internet. In that earlier trial, the jury agreed, siding with Sheeran like loyal fans at a concert. Judge Stanton reiterated this sentiment, stating in his decision that the combination in question would unfairly grant an “impermissible monopoly” over the very building blocks of pop music. One must wonder if he had a choir of pop stars chanting this from the courtroom sidelines.

In fact, the judge went on to point out that the chord progression had been used a whopping 29 times before Gaye’s classic hit and had already graced 23 other tracks before *Thinking Out Loud* strutted onto the scene. Talk about a well-trod path! The appeals court, in all its wisdom, echoed this notion, suggesting that protecting such elements could stifle creativity. It’s a rather poetic thought, really—protecting the music that ultimately sets our hearts on fire, without dousing the flames of human expression.

So, as the music plays on and the court applauds the creativity of both artists, we can only sit back and marvel at the beauty of music, copyright laws, and the peculiar legislative waltz they dance. Who knew the world of copyright could provide such sweet harmony?