A US court has ruled that Ed Sheeran did not copy Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On when composing Thinking Out Loud.

The British singer-songwriter had denied stealing elements of the song for his 2014 worldwide hit.

Heirs of Gaye's co-writer argued that Sheeran, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Publishing owed them money for copyright infringement.

Sheeran reportedly told the trial in New York that if he was found guilty he would give up his music career.

"If that happens, I'm done, I'm stopping," he said when asked about the toll the trial at Manhattan federal court was taking on him.

Sheeran reportedly stood up and hugged his team after jurors ruled that he "independently" created his song.

caption,Kathryn Townsend Griffin, the daughter of composer Ed Townsend, accuses Sheeran of copyright infringement

During the civil trial Sheeran sang and played parts of Thinking Out Loud on the guitar.

He said he wrote the song at home in England with his friend Amy Wadge, and had been inspired by his grandparents and a new romantic relationship he had just begun.

Sheeran's lawyer, Ilene Farkas, told the jurors that similarities in the chord progressions and rhythms of the two songs were "the letters of the alphabet of music."

"These are basic musical building blocks that songwriters now and forever must be free to use, or all of us who love music will be poorer for it," she said.Media caption,

How similar are Ed Sheeran and Marvin Gaye's songs?

Keisha Rice, who represented the heirs of Gaye's co-writer Ed Townsend said her clients were not claiming to own basic musical elements but rather "the way in which these common elements were uniquely combined."

"Mr Sheeran is counting on you to be very, very overwhelmed by his commercial success," she said, urging jurors to use their "common sense" to decide whether the songs are similar.

Last year Sheeran won a copyright battle at the High Court in London over his 2017 Shape of You.

Sheeran is also facing claims over Thinking Out Loud from a company owned by investment banker David Pullman that holds copyright interests in the Gaye song.

In 2015 Gaye's heirs won a $5.3m judgment from a lawsuit claiming the Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams song Blurred Lines copied Gaye's Got to Give It Up.

Background

In September 2022, Pop star Ed Sheeran was ordered to stand trial in the US over claims he copied his hit song Thinking Out Loud from Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On.

A judge denied Sheeran's bid to dismiss the case, saying a jury should decide on the similarities between the songs.

The move comes six months after Sheeran was cleared of copying his hit song Shape Of You at a trial in London.

After that ruling, the singer hit out at "baseless" copyright claims, which he said were "way too common".

The claim over Thinking Out Loud was originally lodged in 2018, not by Gaye's family but by investment banker David Pullman and a company called Structured Asset Sales, which has acquired a portion of the estate of Let's Get It On co-writer Ed Townsend.

Seeking $100m (£90m) in damages, they allege that Sheeran and his co-writer Amy Wadge "copied and exploited, without authorisation or credit" the Gaye song, "including but not limited to the melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bass line, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation and looping".

On Thursday, US District Judge Louis Stanton cited a disagreement between musical experts on both sides of the lawsuit as a reason for ordering the civil trial.Media caption,

The prospect of a jury trial will be an unwelcome one for Sheeran. Copyright lawyers have often argued that juries have difficulty understanding the complexities of copyright law, and why superficial similarities between two songs are not necessarily proof of plagiarism.

In his order, Judge Stanton also ruled that jurors must decide whether SAS can include concert revenue in damages, rejecting Sheeran's argument that ticket sales weren't tied to the alleged infringement.

Sheeran's 2014-2015 tour earned $150m (£135m), according to music industry trade publication Pollstar.

His lawyers did not comment on the judge's ruling. A lawyer for Structured Asset Sales, Hillel Parness, told Reuters the company was "pleased" with the ruling.

This is not the only trial Sheeran is facing over Thinking Out Loud, which went to number one in the UK in 2014 and won song of the year at the Grammy Awards in 2016.

SAS has filed a second case, which is currently on pause, while a separate suit by another portion of Townsend's estate is awaiting trial.