Ed Sheeran sued for ‘copying’ Let’s Get It On

Ed Sheeran is being sued for $100m (£76.4m) for allegedly copying parts of Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On.

It’s alleged the singer ripped off sections of the 1973 classic for his number one hit Thinking Out Loud.

Legal documents in the US allege it copies “the melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bass line, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation and looping”.

Ed has already faced legal action over the same track – and has always denied the allegations.

This new claim has been filed by a company called Structured Asset Sales – which owns part of the copyright of Gaye’s song.

Gaye co-wrote the track alongside US singer Edward Townsend – who died in 2003.

Structured Asset Sales bought one-third of the copyright of the song.

The heirs of Mr Townsend sued Ed in 2016, also claiming Thinking Out Loud copied Let’s Get It On.

It’s unclear whether that case has been resolved.

Other defendants listed in the new claim include Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the Atlantic record label and Amy Wadge – who co-wrote the song.

Singer Robin Thicke appears to have referenced the lawsuit against Ed in a post on Twitter – asking the singer to “call me”.

In March 2015, a jury ruled that Blurred Lines – Robin’s single with Pharrell Williams – copied the Marvin Gaye track Got To Give It Up.

The family of the late soul singer was awarded $7.3m (£4.8m) in damages – which was later cut to $5.3m.

Robin and Pharell had denied copying the hit, and their lawyer said the ruling set a “horrible precedent”.

Last year, Ed settled a $20m (£13.8m) copyright infringement claim against him in the US over his hit song Photograph.

Songwriters Thomas Leonard and Martin Harrington sued the singer – claiming his hit ballad had a similar structure to their song, Amazing.

Source: BBC