ABC/Paula LoboA Manhattan judge has rejected Ed Sheeran‘s request to dismiss a copyright case against him.
According to Billboard, District Judge Louis Stanton ruled Thursday that the case should move forward and a jury should decide whether Ed plagiarized late Motown legend Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” when he wrote his Grammy-winning hit “Thinking Out Loud.”
Stanton said he found “substantial similarities between several of the two works’ musical elements” including their bass lines, percussion and “aesthetic appeal.”
The copyright suit was brought against Ed by the estate and heirs of the late producer Ed Townsend, who co-wrote “Let’s Get It On” with Gaye. That’s in addition to a separate suit filed against Ed last June by the company that owns one-third of Townsend’s copyright rights. That suit is asking for $100 million in damages.
Sheeran has denied any copyright infringement.
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