A jury has foundEd Sheerannot liable in a lawsuit filed against him foralleged copyright infringementover his 2014 single “Thinking Out Loud.”
“I feel like the truth was heard and the truth was believed,” Sheeran, 32, told PEOPLE exclusively in the courthouse following the decision. “It’s nice that we can both move on with our lives now — it’s sad that it had to come to this.”
After the verdict was read, the musician hugged his legal team and co-writer Amy Wadge, then approached plaintiff Kathryn Griffin Townsend and the two smiled and talked before exchanging hugs. As he exited the courtroom, Sheeran embraced and kissed wife Cherry Seaborn, who was in attendance.
Ed Sheeran.TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty
Structured purchased a third of the shares of the song from the family of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote “Let’s Get It On” with the iconic Gaye, in 2018. His daughter Kathryn was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
In a statement Sheeran read aloud outside the courthouse and distributed to reporters following the verdict, he wrote, “Good afternoon. I am obviously very happy with the outcome of the case, and it looks like I’m not going to have to retire from my day job after all — but, at the same time, I am unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all.
These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before “Let’s Get It On” was written and will be used to make music long after we are all gone. They are a songwriter’s ‘alphabet’, our tool kit and should be there for us all to use. No one owns them or the way they are played, in the same way, nobody owns the colour blue.
I am just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy. I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake. Having to be in New York for this trial has meant that I havemissed being with my family at my grandmother’s funeral in Ireland. I won’t get that time back.”
Ed Sheeran.Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty
He continued, “These trials take a significant toll on everybody involved, including Kathryn [Griffin Townsend].
I want to thank the jury for making a decision that will help to protect the creative process of songwriters here in the United States and around the world.
I also want to thank my team who has supported me throughout this difficult process and to all the songwriters, musicians and fans who reached out with messages of support over the last few weeks.
Finally, I want to thank Amy Wadge. Neither of us ever expected that nine years on from our wonderful writing session that we would be here having to defend our integrity. Amy, I feel so lucky to have you in my life.
We need songwriters and the wider musical community to come together to bring back common sense. These claims need to be stopped so that the creative process can carry on, and we can all just go back to making music. At the same time, we absolutely need trusted individuals, real experts who help support the process of protecting copyright. Thank you.”
“If that happens, I’m done, I’m stopping,” Sheeran said.
“I find it to be really insulting,” he added. “I work really hard to be where I’m at.”
Wadge, Sheeran’s co-writer for “Thinking Out Loud” also took the stand Tuesday where she explained to jurors their song’s tune sounded more like Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately,” as it has the same chords in a different key.
“It was pretty devastating and pretty frightening because it’s something we did not do,” Wadge asserted on how she felt about being accused of copying “Let’s Get It On” in the lawsuit.
“If a song takes longer than a day, it’s not worth pursuing,” Sheeran told the jury.
source: people.com
