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00:00 A sigh of relief for Ed Sheeran, his fans and recording artists.
00:04 A US court has ruled that the British king of pop did not copy Marvin Gaye's classic
00:09 "Let's Get It On" when composing his song "Thinking Out Loud".
00:16 Ed Sheeran previously said that if he had been found guilty, he would have quit the
00:26 music industry.
00:27 "I'm obviously very happy with the outcome of the case and it looks like I'm not having
00:30 to retire from my day job after all. But at the same time, I'm unbelievably frustrated
00:35 that bassist claims like this are allowed to go to court at all."
00:38 The civil lawsuit was filed by Heirs of Gay co-writer Ed Townsend. They said that Sheeran
00:44 had stolen the chord progressions and rhythmic elements of Marvin Gaye's 1973 hit.
00:50 But the British songwriter argued that the chord progression in question is a basic building
00:54 block of pop music that can't be owned.
00:58 He even played the songs on his guitar in court to prove his point.
01:01 "Well I'm hopeful that today's ruling gives songwriters more comfort that they can continue
01:07 to create great music using the basic building blocks that were at issue in this trial with
01:11 a little less fear of claims against them."
01:15 This is not the first time that a musician has been accused of stealing a Marvin Gaye
01:19 song.
01:20 Back in 2015, the Gaye family won a $5.3 million judgement from a lawsuit which claimed that
01:27 this Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams song "Blurred Lines"
01:34 copied Gaye's "Got to Give It Up".
01:37 (upbeat music)
01:39 ♪ Rock on ♪