He then spoke for about 10 minutes with the plaintiffs, including the daughter of Ed Townsend, who co-created the 1973 soul classic with Gaye. Sheeran sat with his legal team throughout the trial, defending himself against the lawsuit by Townsend's heirs. They said “Thinking Out Loud” had so many similarities to “Let's Get It On” that it violated the song's copyright protection. At the trial's start, attorney Ben Crump told jurors on behalf of the Townsend heirs that Sheeran himself sometimes performed the two songs together. Townsend, who also wrote the 1958 R&B doo-wop hit “For Your Love,” was a singer, songwriter and lawyer who died in 2003.

Source: The Star May 04, 2023 20:36 UTC