US Supreme Court declines to hear copyright claim that alleged Ed Sheeran copied Marvin Gaye track

India Gazette

17-06-2025

Los Angeles [US], June 17 (ANI): Ed Sheeran has scored a major legal win as the Supreme Court rejected a copyright lawsuit alleging that the British hitmaker's 2014 hit song 'Thinking Out Loud' copied music chords from Marvin Gaye's classic 'Let's Get It On'.
On Sunday, the Supreme Court decided not to hear the case brought by Structured Asset Sales (SAS), which owns a portion of the rights to Gaye's song. The decision keeps in place the lower court decision that Sheeran was not liable in the copyright infringement lawsuit, as per Fox News.
SAS, which is owned by investment banker David Pullman, had argued that Sheeran used the copyrighted melody, harmony and rhythm of Gaye's 'Let's Get It On.'
The case was dismissed in 2023 after U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton decided that the musical elements Sheeran was accused of copying were too common.
The dismissal followed Sheeran's victory in a separate copyright lawsuit over the song that was brought by the family of singer-songwriter Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Gaye's song
'It's devastating to be accused of stealing someone else's song when we've put so much work into our livelihoods,' Sheeran said outside the courthouse following that verdict
SAS appealed Stanton's decision, though the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judge's decision last year.
Meanwhile, Ed is basking in the success of his latest song 'Sapphire' that he made in collaboration with Arijit Singh.
Sharing what went behind the track, Ed in an Instagram post wrote, 'Sapphire was the first song I finished for Play that made me know where the album was heading. It's why I finished the recording process in Goa surrounded by some of the best musicians in India. It was an incredible creative process. I shot the music video with @liampethickphoto and @nicminns across my India tour earlier this year, we wanted to showcase the beauty and breadth of the country and its culture.'
He added, 'The final jigsaw piece for me was getting @arijitsingh on the record, I'll make a post about that in a few days but it was a journey to get there and such an amazing day of music and family. Me and him have done a full Punjabi version of the song that will come out in the next few weeks, which has a lot more of him on it. This is the album version of the song, and my favourite song on the album. Hope you guys love it. Sapphire out now x.' (ANI)