Ed Sheeran to face $100 million copyright trial over 'Thinking Out Loud': Report

 Ed Sheeran will be facing a jury over his $100 million copyright case surrounding the 2014 hit track Thinking Out Loud. A federal judge in Manhattan has cleared the way for further legal proceedings against the singer-songwriter, who is alleged to have copied Marvin Gaye's 1973 classic Let's Get It On to write his own track. As per Billboard, Judge Louis Stanton stressed that a jury trial was necessary to resolve the issue. 

Ed Sheeran to face $100 million copyright trial over Thinking Out Loud

According to the publication, the judge wrote, "There is no bright-line rule that the combination of two unprotectable elements is insufficiently numerous to constitute an original work," and added," "A work may be copyrightable even though it is entirely a compilation of unprotectable elements."

The claim over Thinking Out Loud was originally filed in 2018 by investment banker David Pullman and his company called Structured Asset Sales. They alleged that the singer, as well as his co-writer Amy Wadge, had "copied and exploited, without authorisation or credit" Marvin's track, "including but not limited to the melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bass line, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation and looping."

The legal trouble for Ed comes 6 months after he was cleared of accusations about copying Shape of You from Sami Chokri’s Oh Why. Following the victory, the popstar also dropped a video on social media calling the copyright allegations 'baseless' and added that such lawsuits have become very common. 

Speaking out against the practice of claiming copyright over songs and the increasing cases of such practice, he stated, ''I'm not an entity, I'm not a corporation; I'm a human being, I'm a father, I'm a husband, I'm a son. Lawsuits are not a pleasant experience, and I hope that this ruling, it means in the future, baseless claims like this can be avoided. This really does have to end."

(IMAGE: INSTAGRAM/ @TEDDYSPHOTOS)