Ed Sheeran said he would be “done” if he’s found guilty for ripping off Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”
Ed expressed the toll the copyright infringement case has had on him, as his attorney Ilene Farkas asked what would happen if the plaintiffs win ownership of the chord progression in his song.
“If that happens, I’m done — I’m stopping,” the 32-year old artist responded.
“I find it really insulting to work my whole life as a singer-songwriter and diminish it.”
According to the New York Post, the Grammy award-winning British singer took the stand on Monday and sang in front of a Manhattan jury with his guitar. The trial begin last week in federal court.
Ed was also questioned about his live performances and the writing of the song “Thinking Out Loud”— parts of which he’s accused of lifting from Marvin’s 1973 R&B classic. Ed denies copying the song to write his 2014 hit.
Amy Wadge — who co-wrote “Thinking Out Loud” with Sheeran — later told jurors about the song’s creation, explaining that to her, the tune sounded more like Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately.”
Ed strummed a four-chord sequence of “Let’s Get It On” as he sang renditions of Van Morrison tracks, including “Tupelo Honey” and “Crazy Love,” on the stand.
He has vehemently insisted that any similarities between his 2014 hit and Gaye’s 1973 song are purely coincidental, and that those similarities were too common to constitute copyright infringement.
The federal copyright infringement case was filed back in 2018 by Structured Asset Sales, an entity that owns part of the copyrights of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote “Let’s Get It On.
”In September 2022, Judge Louis Stanton decided that Sheeran and Structured Asset Sales would have to argue their points in front of a jury, who would then decide if “Thinking Out Loud” indeed copied “Let’s Get It On.”
Before he got on the stand, Ed embraced Kathryn Townsend Griffin — the daughter of the late Ed Townsend — who is one of the plaintiffs suing him.
Last week, Kathryn fainted in the lower Manhattan courtroom just as Ed Sheeran’s attorneys began cross-examining a music expert testifying about the song’s composition.
If jurors rule against Ed Sheeran, a second trial will determine what damages are owed to the Townsend family.
