British singer Ed Sheeran won a lawsuit in New York, where he was accused of plagiarizing a song by the American “Prince of Soul” Marvin Gaye.

A Manhattan federal court jury hearing this landmark copyright infringement case found that the 32-year-old singer “self-penned” his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud,” which was not partly stolen from Let’s Get It On. Gaye, famous song from 1973.

Upon hearing the verdict, Sheeran stood up, thanked the jury, and hugged his legal team.

The plaintiffs were the heirs of Ed Townsend, the American musician and producer who wrote “Let’s Get It On” with African-American soul music legend Marvin Gaye (1939-1984). According to them, the two songs show “striking similarities” and “obvious similarities”.

This is Ed Sheeran’s second plagiarism trial in a year: in April 2022, he won another case in London’s High Court where two musicians accused him of copying one of their tracks for his hit “Shape Of You”.

At the trial in New York, the British composer and performer was even forced to play the guitar and sing in front of the jury.

In a statement released after the conclusion of the trial today, Sheeran said he was “very happy” to be acquitted on a “baseless” charge.

Source: APE-MPE, AFP.