Structured Asset Sales claims the song features the same melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bassline, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation and looping as Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get It On'.
- June 29, 2018
AceShowbiz - Ed Sheeran is facing a new $100 million (£76 million) lawsuit over similarities between his hit Thinking About You and Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On.
Bosses at Structured Asset Sales own a third of the soul classic after picking up a share of the rights from Gaye's co-writer Edward Townsend after he died in 2003, and now they insist Thinking Out Loud features the same melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bassline, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation, and looping as Let's Get it On, according to documents obtained by TMZ.
Sheeran has already been sued over the song by Townsend's biological daughter and he is currently attempting to get her case dismissed, insisting any perceived similarities between the two tracks are coincidental, noting the chord progressions and drum patterns used are "extremely commonplace" in the music industry.
He recently claimed the sequences in question are "unprotectable, public domain elements", and maintains the bulk of the song structures of the two tunes are completely different.
Sheeran's lawyers also argue that the plaintiff isn't even eligible to fight the claim on behalf of Townsend's estate, because she was given up for adoption at birth, which apparently forbids her from suing under Californian law in this particular case.
It's not the first time the pop star has been taken to court over song similarities - he is also currently locked in a legal war over The Rest of Our Life, a song he wrote for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, and in 2016, he faced accusations he plagiarised parts of his track Photograph from Amazing, a tune performed by The X Factor U.K. winner Matt Cardle. That suit was settled privately last year (17).
