SHOW: Ed Sheeran Talks Copyright Lawsuit, New Tour & “Subtract”
Ed Sheeran opens up after winning copyright infringement lawsuit alleging he copied Marvin Gaye’s song ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote his award-winning hit ‘Thinking Out Loud’ a Grammy.
In an interview with “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, the singer said it was “101 songs with the same chord sequence” that helped the jury decide in his favor.
“And that was just, like, scratching the surface,” he added. “It was really quick to see that and be like, ‘Oh, yeah.'”
MORE: Ed Sheeran talks about the impact of copyright lawsuits on songwriters
The lawsuit was filed by the family of the late “Let’s Get It On” co-writer Ed Townsend. The lawsuit claimed Sheeran took the beat, chord progression and other elements of his 2014 song “Thinking Out Loud” from the 1973 soul classic without permission.
Sheeran denied the allegations. At one point during the trial, the singer performed a medley of his and Gaye’s songs during his testimony in court to demonstrate how common the four-chord progression was for his hit and others. .
“I’ve wanted to do this for ages since it came out, but you have to do your due diligence in court,” Sheeran said of her performance in court. “So I just waited and knew I would have my day to explain it and I didn’t rush anything.”
A Manhattan jury released its decision in the case Thursday, siding with Sheeran after three hours of deliberation.
MORE: Ed Sheeran speaks out after winning ‘Thinking Out Loud’ copyright case
After winning the lawsuit, Sheeran told reporters in Manhattan federal court on Thursday that the songs had “radically different lyrics, melodies and four chords, which are also different and used by songwriters every day, everywhere. in the world”.
“These chords are common building blocks that have been used to make music long before ‘Let’s Get It On’ was written and will be used to make music long after we’re gone,” Sheeran said. “They’re part of a songwriter’s ‘alphabet’, our toolbox, and should be there for all of us to use. No one owns them or how they’re played, in the same way. that no one possesses the color blue.”
Sheeran also talked about his new album, “-“, pronounced “Subtract”, which is out now.
“I’m happy with the way it’s been received,” he said of the reception. “It’s different territory for me. I usually go with big pop singles…where it really exists as an album. It’s just something that I’m very proud of and will exist in my discography forever.”
The making of Sheeran’s latest album is featured in the new four-part documentary series ‘Ed Sheeran: The Sum Of It All’, streaming now on Disney+, and dives into what inspired the musician to create some of the songs – including his medical scare of his wife and the death of one of his best friends.
“I didn’t really know that was what we were doing,” he said. “I was sort of filming a documentary about the making of my album, the music videos in progress and the gigs surrounding it.”
“Basically, the people doing the documentary were like, ‘We don’t want to do a fancy promotional press kit, so we’re going to film everything and trust us that we’ll do something that will respect you. And they did this grief documentary, basically,” he added. “I think it’s really beautiful.”
Sheeran is also touring and he said he was “honored and surprised” to feel the love from American fans while touring the United States.
“America is such a fast moving country and you have such great American music here that I’m still surprised you still want to listen to the Brit,” he joked.