Ed Sheeran's copyright lawsuit might actually be over after a decade
Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud lawsuit drama may finally be coming to an end after years of court cases since the bop was released 11 years ago.
The soft rock hit Thinking Out Loud from Sheeran's second studio album X was released in 2014.
If you think you haven't heard it, you're wrong. The song has a stronghold at every wedding to take place in Britain, Ireland, and the US, since its release and was on every mainstream radio station at least once a day for two years after its launch.
The song was such a massive success that when music journalists compared it to Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On, copyright lawsuits came in guns blazing.
In the latest update on June 16, the Supreme Court announced that it would not be taking on a copyright case, which accused Sheeran's song of infringing upon Gaye's copyright.
The court did not detail why they decided not to take the case, but it could have something to do with the numerous outcomes in other lower courts that Sheeran has won.
The first suit levelled at Sheeran was in 2016 when the daughter of Ed Townsend, the man who co-wrote the Gaye song in 1973.
The case ended in 2017 with Sheeran being cleared and avoiding millions in possible copyright fees, avoiding the fate of Pharrell and Robin Thicke, who paid a hefty fine after their Blurred Lines track was deemed too similar to Gaye's Got To Give It Up.
The second lawsuit came in 2018 from Structured Asset Sales (SAS), which is estimated to have an 11% ownership stake in Gaye's music. The case was heard in 2023 and resulted in Sheeran winning the case again.
Speaking outside the court in 2023, Sheeran commented: 'We spent the past eight years talking about two songs with dramatically different lyrics, melodies and four chords which are also different and used by songwriters every day all over the world.'
He added: 'These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before 'Let's Get It On' was written and will be used to make music long after we are all gone.
'They are in a songwriter's alphabet, our toolkit, and should be there for all of us to use. No one owns them or the way they are played, in the same way nobody owns the colour blue.'
The 2023 victory was, of course, appealed, but led to this Supreme Court dismissal in June 2025.
In a fun twist to the relentless story, a separate case SAS may now go to the federal court.
In a statement to Billboard, SAS owner and industry executive David Pullman said that the separate case 'will now go forward'.
'Defendants' fear has always been the sound recording of 'Let's Get It On',' Pullman said. 'The U.S. Supreme Court was aware of this and understands that the case will go forward and may very well be back at the U.S. Supreme Court at a later date.'
However, the idea of yet another case has been firmly rejected by Sheeran's lawyer.
Sheeran's attorney, Donald Zakarin, has dismissed the suggestion that the case can be revived and emphasised that Sheeran and his co-writer Amy Wadge, created the song independently.
'Pullman's completely unauthorised and improper purported registration of the Marvin Gaye recording of 'Let's Get It On,' 50 years after it was created, will not change that fact,' Zakarin told Billboard.
'If he truly believed that the second case he filed was so compelling – which it is not – he would not have spent the last two years pursuing his failed first case.'
Amy Wadge, who co-wrote the song, has spoken about her relief at the decade-long back-and-forth finally, seemingly, coming to an end.
'Ten long years it has been, so to get that ruling is an incredible relief,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'It has just rolled on, but yes, it's done.'
The singer was open about how the financial loss of a negative outcome could have ruined her.
'The absolute truth is that song changed my life. I didn't have a hit until I was 37. Then I was able to feel like I'd had a hit for a year and then all of a sudden it felt like the walls were surrounding.
'It was incredibly frightening. Had we lost that case, I could have effectively lost everything. More Trending
'I just knew that had they been successful, it really would have caused a huge issue for creativity in general.'
The music video of Thinking Out Loud was released a decade ago and as of February 2025, has garnered 3.8 billion streams on YouTube.
The song was the first to ever spend an entire year in the UK Top 40 and is one of the most-streamed songs on Spotify.
Despite its incredible success, it is actually Sheeran's second most successful song ever, behind the 2017 hit Shape of You.
Got a story?
If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you.
MORE: Steps narrowly missed out on Glastonbury legends slot for devastating reason
MORE: Liam Gallagher hits back after Oasis fans branded 'fat, drunk and rowdy'
MORE: 'Secret Glastonbury performers' celebrate UK number 1 album weeks before festival
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
6 hours ago
- Metro
Ed Sheeran's copyright lawsuit might actually be over after a decade
Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud lawsuit drama may finally be coming to an end after years of court cases since the bop was released 11 years ago. The soft rock hit Thinking Out Loud from Sheeran's second studio album X was released in 2014. If you think you haven't heard it, you're wrong. The song has a stronghold at every wedding to take place in Britain, Ireland, and the US, since its release and was on every mainstream radio station at least once a day for two years after its launch. The song was such a massive success that when music journalists compared it to Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On, copyright lawsuits came in guns blazing. In the latest update on June 16, the Supreme Court announced that it would not be taking on a copyright case, which accused Sheeran's song of infringing upon Gaye's copyright. The court did not detail why they decided not to take the case, but it could have something to do with the numerous outcomes in other lower courts that Sheeran has won. The first suit levelled at Sheeran was in 2016 when the daughter of Ed Townsend, the man who co-wrote the Gaye song in 1973. The case ended in 2017 with Sheeran being cleared and avoiding millions in possible copyright fees, avoiding the fate of Pharrell and Robin Thicke, who paid a hefty fine after their Blurred Lines track was deemed too similar to Gaye's Got To Give It Up. The second lawsuit came in 2018 from Structured Asset Sales (SAS), which is estimated to have an 11% ownership stake in Gaye's music. The case was heard in 2023 and resulted in Sheeran winning the case again. Speaking outside the court in 2023, Sheeran commented: 'We spent the past eight years talking about two songs with dramatically different lyrics, melodies and four chords which are also different and used by songwriters every day all over the world.' He added: 'These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before 'Let's Get It On' was written and will be used to make music long after we are all gone. 'They are in a songwriter's alphabet, our toolkit, and should be there for all of us to use. No one owns them or the way they are played, in the same way nobody owns the colour blue.' The 2023 victory was, of course, appealed, but led to this Supreme Court dismissal in June 2025. In a fun twist to the relentless story, a separate case SAS may now go to the federal court. In a statement to Billboard, SAS owner and industry executive David Pullman said that the separate case 'will now go forward'. 'Defendants' fear has always been the sound recording of 'Let's Get It On',' Pullman said. 'The U.S. Supreme Court was aware of this and understands that the case will go forward and may very well be back at the U.S. Supreme Court at a later date.' However, the idea of yet another case has been firmly rejected by Sheeran's lawyer. Sheeran's attorney, Donald Zakarin, has dismissed the suggestion that the case can be revived and emphasised that Sheeran and his co-writer Amy Wadge, created the song independently. 'Pullman's completely unauthorised and improper purported registration of the Marvin Gaye recording of 'Let's Get It On,' 50 years after it was created, will not change that fact,' Zakarin told Billboard. 'If he truly believed that the second case he filed was so compelling – which it is not – he would not have spent the last two years pursuing his failed first case.' Amy Wadge, who co-wrote the song, has spoken about her relief at the decade-long back-and-forth finally, seemingly, coming to an end. 'Ten long years it has been, so to get that ruling is an incredible relief,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'It has just rolled on, but yes, it's done.' The singer was open about how the financial loss of a negative outcome could have ruined her. 'The absolute truth is that song changed my life. I didn't have a hit until I was 37. Then I was able to feel like I'd had a hit for a year and then all of a sudden it felt like the walls were surrounding. 'It was incredibly frightening. Had we lost that case, I could have effectively lost everything. More Trending 'I just knew that had they been successful, it really would have caused a huge issue for creativity in general.' The music video of Thinking Out Loud was released a decade ago and as of February 2025, has garnered 3.8 billion streams on YouTube. The song was the first to ever spend an entire year in the UK Top 40 and is one of the most-streamed songs on Spotify. Despite its incredible success, it is actually Sheeran's second most successful song ever, behind the 2017 hit Shape of You. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Steps narrowly missed out on Glastonbury legends slot for devastating reason MORE: Liam Gallagher hits back after Oasis fans branded 'fat, drunk and rowdy' MORE: 'Secret Glastonbury performers' celebrate UK number 1 album weeks before festival
BBC News
9 hours ago
- BBC News
Ed Sheeran's co-writer 'incredibly relieved' as Thinking Out Loud case finally ends
The US Supreme Court has rejected an attempt to revive the long-running copyright trial over his hit song Thinking Out Monday, the court refused to hear an appeal from Structured Asset Sales (SAS), which claimed Sheeran's song copied Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On, in which it has a copyright move ends a decade-long legal battle, including two separate plagiarism trials, both of which ruled in Sheeran's favour."It's a huge relief," said Amy Wadge, who co-wrote Thinking Out Loud with Sheeran in 2014. "It's been rolling news under my life for 10 years but, yes, it's done." Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the Welsh songwriter said the copyright trials had "haunted" her for the last 10 years."The absolute truth is that song changed my life. I didn't have a hit until I was 37 and that was the one. "I was able to feel like I'd had a hit for a year and then all of a sudden it felt like the wolves were surrounding."It was incredibly frightening." Thinking Out Loud is one of the biggest songs of Sheeran's career. It spent more than two years in the UK singles chart, racking up 4.8 million sales in the UK, and won song of the year at the 2016 Grammy boudoir ballad, which was a number one hit in the US, was co-written with singer-songwriter Ed Townsend, who died in family first accused Sheeran and Wadge of copyright infringement in 2016, seeking $100m (£73m) in damages. In court, Sheeran's team accepted that the two songs share a similar syncopated chord they characterised the chords as the "building blocks" of pop music, which had been used in dozens of songs before and since Let's Get It On was recorded in 1973.A New York jury ruled in Sheeran's favour in 2023, after which the star spoke about his decision to fight the case in court, rather than settle."I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake," he told which was founded and run by investment banker David Pullman, also has a stake in Townsend's copyright, and sued Sheeran and Wadge separately in losing that case, SAS launched a series of appeals, including demands for a re-hearing, which was was then left with the option of appealing to the Supreme Court, which it did in the court agreed with earlier findings that the chord progression and harmonic rhythms in Gaye's song are too commonplace to be legally protected."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," Judge Michael Park wrote for the New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals. Wadge said the ruling had ended "10 long years" of uncertainty."It was certainly a financial threat, but there was also... this huge existential threat of what it meant for the world of songwriting I always felt the weight of that. "People would tell me that everyone was looking at this case and I knew that had [SAS] been successful it really would have caused a huge issue for creativity in general," she added. "It was a big responsibility."After the 2023 trial, Wadge and Sheeran both got tattoos containing a phrase from the judge's verdict: "Independently created".Asked if she would do the same again, Wadge laughed, saying: "My husband might have a bit of a problem with another tattoo."The songwriter added that she hasn't been able to speak to Sheeran since the verdict, as he's currently on tour in Europe, but she added: "I'm quite sure at some point we'll be able to sit down and say, 'Thank goodness'."
Telegraph
9 hours ago
- Telegraph
Ed Sheeran copyright claim rejected by US Supreme Court
The US Supreme Court has rejected a bid to revive a copyright claim against Ed Sheeran over his 2014 hit song Thinking Out Loud. The pop star was accused of copying the melody, harmonies and rhythm of Marvin Gaye's 1973 classic Let's Get It On. The British singer had already won a copyright case after a 2023 trial into whether he had plagiarised the Motown star. However, the Supreme Court has now declined to hear an appeal by Structured Asset Sales, which is owned by investment banker David Pullman and has copyright interests in the Gaye song. The decision has brought an end to a decade-long legal battle. Amy Wadge, who co-wrote the song with Sheeran, said she was 'very relieved'. 'Ten long years it has been, so to get that ruling is an incredible relief,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'Song changed my life' Wadge, 49, said despite the victory in 2023 the decision kept getting appealed. 'I always knew there was someone else who was trying to substantiate the same thing,' she said. 'It has just rolled on, but yes it's done.' She said the possibility of losing the case had 'haunted' her, adding: 'The absolute truth is that song changed my life. 'I didn't have a hit until I was 37. Then I was able to feel like I'd had a hit for a year and then all of a sudden it felt like the walls were surrounding. 'It was incredibly frightening. Had we lost that case, I could have effectively lost everything. 'I just knew that had they been successful it really would have caused a huge issue for creativity in general.' Heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the song with Gaye, claimed 34-year-old Sheeran had used substantial chunks of the older song. Sheeran had threatened to abandon the music industry if he lost the case. During his defence, the Grammy-winning artist played the opening chords to Thinking Out Loud and sang the first few lines to the New York jury. After the jury ruled in his favour, Sheeran said outside court: 'It's devastating to be accused of stealing someone else's song when we've put so much work into our livelihoods.' In 2022, a High Court judge in London ruled that Sheeran had not plagiarised a 2015 song by grime artist Sami Switch when he wrote his 2017 hit, Shape of You.
