" You ca n’t copyright a chord sequence . "
As you have probably seen,Ed Sheeranwon his music copyright trial last week. Thelawsuithad alleged that Ed’s “Thinking Out Loud” copied Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” which Ed denied.
This week, Ed appeared onTheHoward SternShow, where he talked about the impact of the trial on his life. “I’m really glad it’s over, man. It was eight years of that. This is my livelihood. This is the thing I’ve worked my entire life to do,” he said.
“To have someone disbelieve it and diminish it and just say that you’ve stolen it — I feel like I really had to take a stand and go to [the trial]. Either way, you lose because you spend god knows what to win the case, and then you don’t get that back. And if you lose the case, you lose. Then there’s a stain on your reputation … the headline of ‘Ed Sheeran Stole This.'”
Ed also missed his grandmother’s funeral because of the trial, saying, “It’s a shame. I won’t get that time back. She was a great woman.”
Ed then revealed the brilliant way he was able to win over the jury at trial. He said he took out his guitar and started playing a bunch of songs that had the same chord progression as his song and the Marvin Gaye song.
.@EdSheeranpulls out his guitar on the#SternShowto demonstrate what he did in court of justice to win his “ think Out tawdry ” right of first publication lawsuit.pic.twitter.com/ROuc6XRT12
He played “Thinking Out Loud,” followed by “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” by Rod Stewart, “People Get Ready” by Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions, “You’re Still the One” byShania Twain, “Just Like a Woman” by Bob Dylan, and finally, “My Girl” by the Temptations.
“There was 101 songs,” Ed said. “I was saying, ‘Yes, it’s a chord sequence that you hear on successful songs. But if you say that a song in 1974 owns this, then what about the songs before?'”
He added, “We found songs from the 1700s that had similar melodic stuff. There were huge songs in the ’50s and ’60s. You can’t copyright a chord sequence.”
There you have it. Congrats on winning the case, Ed!
Sirius X / Viayoutube.com
