Ed Sheeran has won a copyright case following accusations one of his songs copied elements of Marvin Gaye's hit Let's Get It On.
After less than three hours of deliberation, the three men and four women on the jury determined that Sheeran had independently created his track, Thinking Out Loud, and had not copied elements of Gaye's 1973 R&B classic.
The decision was read later that day in Manhattan federal court following a two-week trial where Sheeran took the stand, performed songs for the jury, and appeared regularly in court, dressed in a black suit, grey tie, and white shirt.
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During the trial, jurors heard from music experts who presented arguments about whether Ed's track used musical elements previously used in Let's Get it On, such as chord progression, melodies, and anticipation.
Sheeran denied the accusation that he copied the song and even performed acoustic renditions of his hit song twice for the courtroom.
The lawsuit was filed in 2017 by the heirs of Ed Townsend, the co-writer of Gaye's song.
Kathryn Townsend Griffin, the daughter of the late Townsend, claimed that Sheeran had ripped off parts of her father's hit song to use in his own music.
Juror Sophia Neis spoke to reporters outside the courtroom, telling them: “We wanted to make sure were comfortable with the decision we were giving.
"Everyone had opinions going in. there were people that were more in the middle and figure out what was the best ruling of law in this case.”
Fans took to social media to comments on the ruling.
"I’m not the biggest Ed Sheeran fan, but thank goodness he won that lawsuit. Had the plaintiffs won that ridiculous case, it would have ended music. Chord progressions, style, and “feel” are not copyrightable," read a comment on Twitter.
"I hope Ed Sheeran countersues the ever loving shat out of those people for emotional distress. That man was going to retire behind this case. AND he missed his grandma’s funeral for court! I’d be livid." read a second, while a third commented: "Congratulations to Ed Sheeran, he is NOT LIABLE in the Marvin Gaye song lawsuit!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Sheeran's song, which came out in 2014, was a hit, winning a Grammy for song of the year.
His lawyers argued that the songs shared versions of a similar and unprotectable chord progression freely available to all songwriters.
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