The Supreme Court on Monday declined to revive a copyright challenge to Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” that accused the pop star of unlawfully emulating the late Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”
The justices turned away an appeal by Structured Asset Sales, a partial owner to the rights of Gaye’s 1973 hit, which filed suit in 2018 over alleged similarities between the songs.
Lower courts deemed Sheeran not liable for copyright infringement, finding the singer’s 2014 hit did not unlawfully rip off Gaye’s song because the earlier tune was too mainstream to be legally protected.
“Even when combined, the four-chord progression and syncopated harmonic rhythm at issue are too unoriginal for copyright protection,” wrote Judge Michael Park of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. “Plaintiff failed to rebut evidence that this same combination appears in well-known songs predating Let’s Get It On, leaving no triable issues of fact as to the originality of the alleged combination.”
“And no reasonable jury could find that the two songs, taken as a whole, are substantially similar in light of their dissimilar melodies and lyrics,” the judge continued, affirming a district court’s ruling.
Structured Asset Sales, owned by investment banker David Pullman, owns about 11 percent of the rights to Gaye’s song and argued that the lawsuit should not have been thrown out.
Hillel Parness, a lawyer for Structured Asset Sales, wrote in its petition to the justices that the law surrounding the company’s copyright claim is unsettled and should be addressed by the nation’s highest court.
“The rights of thousands of legacy musical composers and artists, of many of the most beloved and enduring pieces of popular music, are at the center of the controversy,” Parness said.
Sheeran previously saw victory in a separate copyright lawsuit brought by the family of Ed Townsend, the co-writer of Gaye’s song. A jury in 2023 said that he didn’t steal key components of the tune.
After that verdict, the singer told reporters that the claim should not have been brought in the first place.
“I am just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy,” he said at the time, according to the Associated Press. “I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake.”
Â
