Latest news with #StructuredAssetSales
Daily Mirror
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Ed Sheeran copyright claim for Grammy-winning hit rejected by Supreme Court
Pop singer and award-winning songwriter Ed Sheeran found himself caught up in a 'devastating' lawsuit yet again, as he was accused of stealing from a classic 1970s hit Ed Sheeran is a hitmaker above all else, with countless number one songs and writing credits for the likes of Rihanna and One Direction, but his most recent success comes from a song he first released all the way back in 2014. One of the pop star's biggest songs, Thinking Out Loud, came under fire for allegedly using the copyright melody from Marvin Gaye 's Let's Get It On. This case was brought forward by Structured Asset Sales (SAS), which owns a portion of the rights to the song. Owner and investment banker David Pullman argued that the melody, harmony and rhythm were all copied by Sheeran. However, on July 16, the Supreme Court decided not to hear the case, keeping in place the lower court's decision that the singer was not liable in the copyright infringement lawsuit. READ MORE: Ed Sheeran's bitter family rift as star faces backlash for 'identifying culturally' as Irish It's not the first time the star celebrates such a victory, as this news follows his previous success in fighting a copyright lawsuit over the same song, but this time by the family of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 70s song. The family's accusations resulted in them seeking an eye-watering $100m (£73m) in damages from the star. Sheeran was angered by this and put his decision to fight the case down to the simple fact that he would not act as a "piggy bank" for "anyone to shake". Thinking Out Loud is still one of the singer's biggest songs to date after spending more than two years in the UK charts. Not to mention, it racked up an impressive 4.8 million sales in the UK alone and went on to take home the Song of the Year award at the 2016 Grammys. In 2023, this case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton, who decided that the elements the 34-year-old was accused of stealing are far too common. Following the verdict at the time, Sheeran spoke outside of the courthouse and shared his disappointment in being questioned on his song-writing capabilities. He said: "It's devastating to be accused of stealing someone else's song when we've put so much work into our livelihoods." Speaking on the matter this week was his co-writer, Amy Wadge. In an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, she shared that these copyright trials have "haunted" her for the last decade. Wadge further explained: "The absolute truth is that song changed my life. I didn't have a hit until I was 37, and that was the one. "I was able to feel like I'd had a hit for a year, and then all of a sudden it felt like the wolves were surrounding me. It was incredibly frightening." She went on to say that the case's dismissal was a "huge relief" for the both of them. Following on from the stress of the initial 2023 trial, both Wadge and Sheeran commemorated the event, commenting on how the pop star does best with a tattoo. The pair decided to get matching tattoos using a phrase one of the judges said in the trial: "independently created".
Pink Villa
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Will Ed Sheeran Face Court Trial Over Thinking Out Loud Copyright Issue? Here's What We Know
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against the hearing of a lawsuit filed over Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud copyright. The filing stated that the musician's hit 2014 single was copied from Marvin Gaye's classic song, Let's Get it On. The case was first filed against the singer by Structured Asset Sales, a company that holds a partial stake in Gaye's song. The company is owned by the banker, David Pullman. The company filed a lawsuit against Sheeran, the music label Warner Music, and the publisher Sony Music Publishing, seeking money over the similarity with Marvin Gaye song. Supreme Court's ruling in Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud plagiarism case According to the media reports, the case against the Photograph crooner was dismissed last year. The judge claimed that the song's tunes and music were too common to require copyright protection. Meanwhile, in a separate filing against Ed Sheeran by the heirs of Ed Townsend, the co-writer of Gaye's song, the judge sided with the Shape of You singer. In his filing, the judge stated, 'We spent the past eight years talking about two songs with dramatically different lyrics, melodies and four chords, which are also different and used by songwriters every day all over the world.' He further stated, 'These chords are common building blocks that were used to create music long before 'Let's Get It On' was written and will be used to make music long after we are all gone. They are in a songwriter's alphabet, our toolkit, and should be there for all of us to use. No one owns them or the way they are played, in the same way nobody owns the color blue.' Meanwhile, the high-profile case was followed by Marvin Gaye's team filing yet another case against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, who were ordered to pay 5 million USD, after Thicke's song Blurred Lines, was copied from Gaye's 1977 hit Got to Give it Up.
See - Sada Elbalad
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Supreme Court Blocks Bid to Reopen "Thinking Out Loud" Copyright Lawsuit against Ed Sheeran
Yara Sameh On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a lawsuit against musician Ed Sheeran that alleged his hit single "Thinking Out Loud" copied Marvin Gaye's iconic song "Let's Get It On." The Supreme Court justices declined to hear an appeal filed by Structured Asset Sales, a company owned by investment banker David Pullman, that owns a partial stake in Gaye's 1973 song. Structured Asset Sales first sued Sheeran, his record label Warner Music, and music publisher Sony Music Publishing in 2023, seeking monetary damages over alleged similarities between the two songs. A U.S. District Judge sided with Sheeran in the original case, concluding that the song's melody, harmony, and rhythm were too common to require copyright protection. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision last year. In a separate 2023 copyright lawsuit over the same issue filed by the heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye's co-writer on the Motown classic, a jury in Manhattan federal court ruled in favor of Sheeran. Speaking outside the court at the time, Sheeran said: 'We spent the past eight years talking about two songs with dramatically different lyrics, melodies and four chords which are also different and used by songwriters every day all over the world.' He continued: 'These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before 'Let's Get It On' was written and will be used to make music long after we are all gone. They are in a songwriter's alphabet, our toolkit, and should be there for all of us to use. No one owns them or the way they are played, in the same way nobody owns the color blue.' The Let's Get It On case followed another high-profile lawsuit by Gaye's estate, in which Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were ordered to pay more than $5 million in 2018 after a court found that Thicke's global smash "Blurred Lines" copied Gaye's 1977 hit Got to Give It Up. read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks Videos & Features Video: Trending Lifestyle TikToker Valeria Márquez Shot Dead during Live Stream News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan Technology 50-Year Soviet Spacecraft 'Kosmos 482' Crashes into Indian Ocean News 3 Killed in Shooting Attack in Thailand
Telegraph
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Ed Sheeran copyright claim rejected by US Supreme Court
The US Supreme Court has rejected a bid to revive a copyright claim against Ed Sheeran over his 2014 hit song Thinking Out Loud. The pop star was accused of copying the melody, harmonies and rhythm of Marvin Gaye's 1973 classic Let's Get It On. The British singer had already won a copyright case after a 2023 trial into whether he had plagiarised the Motown star. However, the Supreme Court has now declined to hear an appeal by Structured Asset Sales, which is owned by investment banker David Pullman and has copyright interests in the Gaye song. The decision has brought an end to a decade-long legal battle. Amy Wadge, who co-wrote the song with Sheeran, said she was 'very relieved'. 'Ten long years it has been, so to get that ruling is an incredible relief,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'Song changed my life' Wadge, 49, said despite the victory in 2023 the decision kept getting appealed. 'I always knew there was someone else who was trying to substantiate the same thing,' she said. 'It has just rolled on, but yes it's done.' She said the possibility of losing the case had 'haunted' her, adding: 'The absolute truth is that song changed my life. 'I didn't have a hit until I was 37. Then I was able to feel like I'd had a hit for a year and then all of a sudden it felt like the walls were surrounding. 'It was incredibly frightening. Had we lost that case, I could have effectively lost everything. 'I just knew that had they been successful it really would have caused a huge issue for creativity in general.' Heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the song with Gaye, claimed 34-year-old Sheeran had used substantial chunks of the older song. Sheeran had threatened to abandon the music industry if he lost the case. During his defence, the Grammy-winning artist played the opening chords to Thinking Out Loud and sang the first few lines to the New York jury. After the jury ruled in his favour, Sheeran said outside court: 'It's devastating to be accused of stealing someone else's song when we've put so much work into our livelihoods.' In 2022, a High Court judge in London ruled that Sheeran had not plagiarised a 2015 song by grime artist Sami Switch when he wrote his 2017 hit, Shape of You.
CTV News
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Supreme Court declines to hear copyright appeal that alleged Ed Sheeran copied Marvin Gaye song
Ed Sheeran poses on the red carpet as he attends the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in February 2024. (Mario Anzuoni / Reuters / File via CNN Newsource) The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a copyright suit against pop star Ed Sheeran filed by a company that alleged his smash single 'Thinking Out Loud' copied the classic Marvin Gaye song 'Let's Get It On.' Sheeran has been fighting – and successfully defending against – different iterations of the lawsuit for years. In a related case, a jury in 2023 concluded that Sheeran's number, which won a Grammy in 2016, did not infringe on the copyright that was originally registered in 1973. By declining to hear the appeal, the Supreme Court left in place a decision from the New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals siding with Sheeran. The suit before the high court was filed by a company called Structured Asset Sales, which owned a one-ninth interest in the royalties from 'Let's Get It On,' Gaye's iconic Motown song. The question put to the justices was whether the appeals court gave too much deference to the US Copyright Office interpretation of the Copyright Act of 1909. The Supreme Court's conservative majority recently limited the circumstances under which courts are supposed to defer to interpretations of vague laws by federal agencies, overturning a 1984 precedent Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. The Copyright Office concluded that the protections for the song were limited to the handwritten sheet music Gaye's co-writer, Ed Townsend, had submitted in the 1970s. Structured Asset Sales claimed that Sheeran's song copied elements of 'Let's Get It On,' like the drums and tempo. The company argued that the rights to many other songs were at stake in case. 'The rights of thousands of legacy musical composers and artists, of many of the most beloved and enduring pieces of popular music, are at the center of the controversy,' its attorneys told the Supreme Court. But Sheeran's lawyers countered, among other things, that the sheet music submitted did not indicate a tempo. They also argued that the text of the copyright law is clear and didn't require courts to defer to the Copyright Office's interpretation. John Fritze, CNN
