New York, US: British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has won a major victory in a high-profile copyright case after a jury in New York ruled that he was not liable for copyright infringement. The closely-watched case centred on allegations that Sheeran had ripped off Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On. The verdict will be seen as a triumph for recording artists and has been hailed as a victory for creative freedom.

The case had threatened to force Sheeran out of the music industry. Prior to the verdict, he had claimed that he would quit the industry if he lost the case, saying “If that happens, I’m done, I’m stopping… I find it really insulting to devote my whole life to being a performer and a songwriter and have someone diminish it.” After the verdict, Sheeran hugged his lawyer while his wife, Cherry Seaborn, and co-writer, Amy Wadge, were reportedly in tears.

Sheeran told reporters outside the court that he was “obviously very happy” with the outcome, but added that he was “unbelievably frustrated” that “baseless claims” like this were allowed to go to court. The singer also described being accused of stealing someone else’s song as “devastating” and vowed to never allow himself to be “a piggybank for anyone to shake.”

During the trial, Sheeran and Wadge had both testified that they did not copy Let’s Get It On. Sheeran stated that he had only a passing familiarity with the song and that Thinking Out Loud, his hit song that was the subject of the copyright claim was inspired by Irish musician Van Morrison.

Sheeran’s lawyer, Ilene Farkas, had argued that similarities in the chord progressions and rhythms of Gaye’s classic and Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud were “the letters of the alphabet of music”. “These are basic musical building blocks that songwriters now and forever must be free to use, or all of us who love music will be poorer for it,” she said.

The heirs of Gaye’s co-writer, Ed Townsend, who were suing Sheeran and his record label, claimed that they did not own basic musical elements but rather “the way in which these common elements were uniquely combined”. Townsend’s daughter, Kathryn Townsend Griffin, said she had to protect her “father’s legacy.”

Sheeran is also facing claims over Thinking Out Loud in the same court from a company owned by investment banker David Pullman that holds copyright interests in the Gaye song. Sheeran won a trial in London last year in a separate copyright case over his hit Shape of You.

The case has highlighted the intense pressure and scrutiny that the music industry places on its artists, and the toll that legal battles can take on performers. Sheeran revealed in a promotional interview on CBS that he had missed his grandmother’s funeral as a result of the trial. Despite the stress of the case, Sheeran is set to release his fifth studio album, Subtract, this week. Sheeran has sold over 150 million records, making him one of the biggest-selling artists of all time.

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