British singer Ed Sheeran sang a few lyrics from one of his songs and played a few chords on a guitar for a New York jury, hoping to hit the right notes with a jury deciding whether the song violates the copyrights of Marvin Gaye's soul classic “Let's Get It On.” Video / AP
Ed Sheeran said Monday he’s getting encouragement during his copyright trial from other performers who also worry that they’ll be sued as he battles claims that he stole material from Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On to make a new tune a decade ago.
The British singer offered a spiriteddefence and a lot of singing during a second day on the witness stand after he was called by his lawyer to answer questions at a trial at which he is accused of infringing the copyrights of the 1973 soul classic Gaye created with fellow songwriter Ed Townsend.
Sheeran said he’s heard from other singers since the trial began last week because they share his worries about litigation resulting from their songwriting. He didn’t identify any of them, but said they’re cheering him on — grateful that he’s standing up against what all songwriters view as a threat to their work.
“When you write songs, somebody comes after you,” Sheeran said.
The trial, now in its second week, stems from a lawsuit filed by Townsend’s heirs several years ago. They seek unspecified damages.
Kathryn Townsend Griffin, centre, daughter of singer and songwriter Ed Townsend, speaks outside New York Federal Court before the start of a copyright infringement trial against singer Ed Sheeran. Photo / AP
Townsend attorney Ben Crump last week said a Zurich concert clip in which Sheeran can be heard segueing on stage between Let’s Get It On and the alleged offending song, Thinking Out Loud, amounted to “smoking gun” proof that Sheeran was violating copyrights.
But Sheeran’s attorney, Ilene Farkas, provided the jury with a mini-concert on Monday from her client, who cheerfully picked up a guitar from behind his witness chair whenever she asked him to demonstrate how he could switch from his song to somebody else’s and back again in a practice known as “mashups”.
He said he used the mashups to “spice it up a bit” during concerts, generally choosing songs that used similar chords.
“If it’s a love song, you might mash it up with another love song,” Sheeran said, suggesting that Elvis Presley’s version of Can’t Help Falling in Love or the Whitney Houston rendition of I Will Always Love You, written by Dolly Parton, would mash well with Thinking Out Loud.
At one point, Farkas asked Sheeran if he copied anything from Let’s Get It On when he wrote his song.
“No,” he said.
Ed Sheeran recently performed in New Zealand. Photo / Alex Robertson
Sheeran expressed his admiration for Van Morrison, calling the Northern Irish singer “one of the most important influences in my life”.
He said his record label even referred to Thinking Out Loud as “the Van Morrison song”.
Sheeran’s good humour all but vanished when he faced cross-examination as attorney Patrick Frank asked him about testimony from an expert witness.
“If I can be honest, I think what he’s doing here is criminal,” the singer said.
Sheeran didn’t hide how irritating he found it that his life of music had landed him in a witness chair.
Sheeran said he couldn’t believe that somebody would listen to one of his songs and then “diminish it by saying I stole it”. When asked what he would do if the court finds Thinking Out Loud to be too similar to Let’s Get It On, Sheeran confessed he would give up making and releasing music to the world.
“If that happens, I’m done, I’m stopping,” Sheeran said. “I find it to be really insulting.”
