by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 24 – In 2017 Ed Sheeran was sued for allegedly infringing the copyright of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" in his 2014 song, "Thinking Out Loud."
On April 24, 2023 the jury begins before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Louis L. Stanton. Inner City Press will cover it.
The actual Marvin Gaye recording may not be played for the jury. But a 2014 YouTube concern clip of Sheeran breaking into Let's Get It On while (singing) Thinking Out Loud may be - the clip is here, at 4:29.
The plaintiff is not Marvin Gaye but rather Kathryn Griffin-Townsend as heir of Ed Townsend, Gaye's co-writer on "Let's Get It On." Among plaintiffs' counsel is Ben Crump.
On April 24 for jury selection, Crump was there. In the jury pool were a musicology, a mother with two daughters who are Sheeran fans, and a woman who had Sheeran's "Perfect" as her wedding song. Thread here. The jury was picked and sent home; chords - four or six was the debate - were played. Watch this site -
and more on Substack here
The case is Griffin, et al. v. Sheeran, et al., 17-cv-5221 (Stanton)
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