Supreme Court hands Ed Sheeran legal win in Marvin Gaye copyright fight

The Supreme Court has rejected a copyright lawsuit alleging that Ed Sheeran’s 2014 hit song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ copied music chords from Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic ‘Let’s Get It On.’

The Supreme Court on Monday decided not to hear the case brought by Structured Asset Sales (SAS), which owns a portion of the rights to Gaye’s song. The decision keeps in place the lower court decision that Sheeran was not liable in the copyright infringement lawsuit.

SAS, which is owned by investment banker David Pullman, had argued that Sheeran used the copyrighted melody, harmony and rhythm of Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On.’

The case was dismissed in 2023 after U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton decided that the musical elements Sheeran was accused of copying were too common. 

The dismissal followed Sheeran’s victory in a separate copyright lawsuit over the song that was brought by the family of singer-songwriter Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Gaye’s song. 

‘It’s devastating to be accused of stealing someone else’s song when we’ve put so much work into our livelihoods,’ Sheeran said outside the courthouse following that verdict.

SAS appealed Stanton’s decision, though the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judge’s decision last year.