Jury rules Ed Sheeran did not plagiarize Marvin Gaye's song

A Manhattan federal jury has ruled that pop star Ed Sheeran did not infringe on the copyright of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" with his 2014 hit "Thinking Out Loud." The lawsuit was brought by the heirs of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote "Let's Get It On" with Gaye, who alleged that Sheeran, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Publishing stole from the soul classic, violating federal copyright law. After a two-week trial, jurors reached a unanimous verdict after three hours of deliberation, deciding that Sheeran independently created his song and was not liable for copyright infringement. Sheeran, who had threatened to quit music if found guilty, stood up and hugged his lawyers upon hearing the verdict. Sheeran had previously taken the stand in defense of his Grammy-award winning song, testifying that he composed "Thinking Out Loud" independently with British songwriter Amy Wadge, who was not named in the lawsuit. Gaye died in 1984, while Townsend died in 2003. This is not Sheeran's first time in court over copyright infringement claims. Last April, he was involved in another case involving his hit song "Shape of You," in which a London judge ruled in favor of Sheeran and awarded him more than $1.1 million in legal fees.