Pryor Cashman Partner Ilene Farkas, co-chair of the Music Group and of the Copyright, M+E Litigation, and Music Litigation Practices, sat down with Variety for an extensive Q+A about the firm's victory on behalf of star singer-songwriter client Ed Sheeran in his landmark copyright case.
In "Ed Sheeran Attorney on Court Victory: 'He Feels Vindicated Not Only for Himself, but All Songwriters,'" Ilene discussed the importance of the case not just for Sheeran but for songwriters in general:
He is certainly thrilled about the decision. He feels vindicated, but he feels not only vindicated for himself, but for all songwriters. There have been many, many, many songwriters who reached out to him during this trial in support of what he was doing, and so he felt a tremendous obligation. That's a big weight on your shoulders. There were dozens and dozens of strangers who reached out to me, just songwriters and professors of musicology, and just consumers of music who all were in support of Ed and the impact that this case was going to have potentially on songwriting.
Ilene also talked about one of the key moments of the trial, when Sheeran took the witness stand with his guitar to play and sing parts of "Thinking Out Loud" for the jury:
I think that putting Ed on the stand was something that was very important to Ed. He has been accused of doing something that he did not do for seven-plus years now. And he felt it very important, as did we, for him to tell his story and to explain who his influences were, how he and Amy wrote this beautiful song, and to also respond to some of the evidence and theories that the plaintiffs were trying to put forward in this case. So it was important to us and important to Ed for the court and the jury to see who he was as an artist, because he was being accused of some pretty serious things that he did not do. And so it was important for us and Ed for the jury to see that he's a real artist; he's a prolific artist; he is extremely talented - and to show them a sense of how he came up with this song with Amy (Wadge) and how it's very different from the manipulated versions of the melodies that the plaintiffs' expert tried to put forward. You know, these were all important things to demonstrate, and there's no one better to demonstrate it than Ed himself.
Read the full Q+A using the link below.
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