Ed Sheeran Trial: Did He Copy Marvin Gaye? Here’s What to Know.; The New York Times, April 24, 2023

Ben Sisario, The New York Times; Ed Sheeran Trial: Did He Copy Marvin Gaye? Here’s What to Know.

"A closely watched music copyright trial is set to begin Monday in federal court in Manhattan, where a jury will decide a lawsuit accusing Ed Sheeran of copying his Grammy-winning ballad “Thinking Out Loud” from Marvin Gaye’s soul classic “Let’s Get It On.”...

The music industry is keenly interested in the outcome. Over the last decade, the business has been rocked by a series of infringement suits that have involved questions of just how much or how little of the work of pop songwriters can be protected by copyright, and how vulnerable they are to legal challenges."

Ed Sheeran sued for copyright infringement for second time this year; Washington Post, 8/10/16

Travis M. Andrews, Washington Post; Ed Sheeran sued for copyright infringement for second time this year:

"In June, songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard filed a $20 million lawsuit against Sheeran, claiming that the British pop star copied their song “Amazing” almost note-for-note in his 2014 hit “Photograph.”

On Tuesday, Sheeran was again sued for copyright infringement, this time for his single “Thinking Out Loud.”

Based on their peak positions on the Billboard Top 100, these are two of Sheeran’s three biggest hits.

The suit comes from the heirs of Ed Townsend, who wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics to Marvin Gaye’s famous romantic anthem, “Let’s Get it On.” It claims that Sheeran copied the major aspects of the melody, harmony and composition of “Let’s Get it On” for his hit “Thinking Out Loud.”"

Industry Issues Intrude in ‘Blurred Lines’ Case; New York Times, 3/1/15

Ben Sisario, New York Times; Industry Issues Intrude in ‘Blurred Lines’ Case:

"Copyright cases can be esoteric affairs. But the “Blurred Lines” trial, which began Tuesday before Judge John A. Kronstadt in United States District Court for the Central District of California, has provided a rare window into an unseemly and embarrassing side of the music industry. Testimony and a flurry of pretrial documents have revealed lurid details of drugs, unearned songwriting credits, and intentional deception of the news media employed as a standard promotional practice...

If Mr. Thicke’s side loses, the potential damages could be large. “Blurred Lines” has sold 7.3 million copies in the United States, and Richard S. Busch, the Gaye family’s lawyer, claimed in his opening statement that the song had earned at least $30 million in profit — a figure Mr. Thicke’s lawyers disputed. If Mr. Thicke’s side is found liable of infringement, then the jury would decide what percentage of the song’s profits should be shared with the Gayes as damages."

Songwriters Sue to Defend a Summer Hit; New York Times, 8/16/13

Ben Sisario, New York Times; Songwriters Sue to Defend a Summer Hit: "Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” is the song of the summer, spending 10 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s charts and still blaring out of cars and bars from sea to shining sea. Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up” was a clear inspiration for it, but were Mr. Thicke and his songwriting partners merely inspired by Gaye, or did they infringe on the copyright of the earlier song? That is the question at the heart of a lawsuit that Mr. Thicke and his co-writers, Pharrell Williams and Clifford Harris Jr. (better known as the rapper T.I.), filed in federal court on Thursday against Gaye’s three children."