British Pop star Ed Sheeran will not have to retire from music after all following victory in his copyright infringement lawsuit regarding his hit song, ‘thinking out loud’.
The announcement comes after a ruling by a federal court on Thursday.
A Jury agreed that Sheeran’s 2014 mega-hit, ‘Thinking out loud‘ did not infringe on the copyrights of Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic, ‘Let’s Get It On’, bringing an end to the high-profile trial which spanned two weeks, bringing an end to a lengthy court battle between the singer and the heirs of Ed Townsend who’s credited as a co-writer of the 70’s hit.
“I am obviously happy with the outcome of the case and it looks like I will not have to retire from my day job after all”, Sheeran said while addressing the media outside the court following the verdict.
“At the same time, I am unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all.”
Sheeran of course referring to his pronouncements of walking away from the music if he was found guilty of copyright infringement claims by the plaintiffs.
“We have spent the last eight years talking about two songs with dramatically different lyrics, melodies, and four chords which are also different and used by songwriters every day, all over the world,” the singer continued.
“These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before ‘Let’s Get It On’ was written and will be used to make music long after we are all gone.”
“I am just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy,” he added. “I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake.”
The decision officially concludes a lengthy legal battle between the singer and the heirs of Ed Townsend, who’s credited as a co-writer of the 70’s hit.