Pryor Cashman Client Ed Sheeran Wins Landmark Copyright Case Over ‘Thinking Out Loud'

Star singer-songwriter and Pryor Cashman client Ed Sheeran emerged the winner of a pivotal copyright trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

In Griffin et al v. Sheeran et al, the estate of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the Marvin Gaye hit "Let's Get It On," claimed that Sheeran and co-writer Amy Wadge copied elements of the 1973 song in their 2014 hit "Thinking Out Loud."

The high-profile trial, which lasted six days and was overseen by U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton, included Sheeran bringing his guitar to the witness stand to play and sing parts of "Thinking Out Loud" for the jury.Sheeran described the writing process behind the song and demonstrated how he and Amy independently created it.

After reviewing the detailed testimony and arguments, the jury sided with Sheeran following 2.5 hours of deliberation.

Sheeran was represented in the case by Pryor Cashman Partners Donald Zakarin and Ilene Farkas, Counsel Andrew Goldsmith, and Associate Brian Maida.

Ilene commented on Sheeran's victory in court:

We are thrilled that the jury unanimously determined that Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge independently created "Thinking Out Loud," and that the song "Let's Get It On" had nothing to do with their creative process.This verdict is a massive win for all songwriters out there, who now will not be forced to hesitate about using basic elements of their toolkit, like chord progressions, pitch sequences, and syncopation, in their creative processes.No one owns these commonplace musical building blocks, and our hats go off to Ed Sheeran for standing up for current and future songwriters.Everyone benefits from artists being able to use these elements to create new music for all of us to enjoy.

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