A US court has ruled that Ed Sheeran did not copy Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On while composing Thinking Out Loud.
In 2014, a global hit by a British singer-songwriter was accused of containing stolen elements, which the artist denied.
The co-writers of Gaye's work claimed that Sheeran, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Publishing had infringed their copyright and owed them compensation.
During the trial at Manhattan federal court, Sheeran expressed the emotional burden of the legal proceedings, stating that he would quit his music career if found guilty.
He said, "If that happens, I'm done, I'm stopping."
According to reports, Sheeran stood up and embraced his team members after the jurors declared that he had "independently" produced his song.
Sheeran expressed his contentment with the verdict, saying he was "obviously very happy" about it.
While speaking to reporters outside the court, Sheeran said that he would not have to retire from his profession as a result of the ruling. However,
He expressed his frustration that baseless claims like this could even make it to court.
Sheeran further added that if the decision had gone the other way, it would have meant the end of the creative freedom of songwriters.
He believed that artists must have the freedom to create original music without constantly worrying about being wrongly accused of plagiarism.
During the civil trial, Sheeran played sections of Thinking Out Loud on the guitar and also stated that he had written the song in England with his friend Amy Wadge.
Sheeran mentioned that the song was by his grandparents and a new romantic relationship that he had just started.
In defense, Sheeran's lawyer, Ilene Farkas, argued that the chord progressions and rhythms of the two songs were "the letters of the alphabet of music."
She further added that these were basic musical building blocks that should always be available for songwriters to use freely.
Farkas believed that if songwriters are not allowed to use these elements, it would make the world of music poorer.
Keisha Rice, who represented the heirs of Gaye's co-writer Ed Townsend, clarified that her clients were not asserting ownership over basic musical elements.
Instead, they claimed that Sheeran had used these common elements in a unique way that resembled the Gaye song.
Rice urged the jurors to use their "common sense" when deciding whether the two songs were similar, adding that Sheeran was banking on his commercial success to sway the verdict in his favor.
Apart from this lawsuit, Sheeran is also facing copyright claims over Thinking Out Loud from a company owned by investment banker David Pullman, which holds copyright interests in the Gaye song.
In a similar case from 2015, Gaye's heirs had won a $5.3m judgment in a lawsuit alleging that the song Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams had copied Gaye's Got to Give It Up.
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