SHOW’S OVER

Ed Sheeran Wins Marvin Gaye Copyright Trial

“I’m 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 piggybank for anyone to shake,” he said.

British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has won a copyright battle that he claimed robbed him of precious family time and could have ended his career. After three hours of deliberations, a civil jury in New York City found Sheeran not liable Thursday for ripping off Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” in his subsequent hit “Thinking Out Loud.” Sheeran had attended the eight-day trial, even crooning jurors with snippets of various songs as he tried to convince them that he was more inspired by Van Morrison than Gaye’s 1973 R&B classic. Asked on the stand Monday what kind of toll the case had taken and what he would do if he lost, Sheeran said his career would be over. “If that happens, I’m done—I’m stopping,” he said, adding: “I find it really insulting to work my whole life as a singer-songwriter and diminish it.” He doubled down outside court after winning the case, saying: “I’m 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 piggybank for anyone to shake. Having to be in New York for this trial has meant that I’ve missed being with my family at my grandmother’s funeral in Ireland and I will never get that time back.” Sheeran was sued by the heirs of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote “Let’s Get It On” with Gaye.