Jury Sides With Ed Sheeran in Song-Stealing Trial

Ed Sheeran is not a musical plagiarist, a New York jury decided Thursday. Jurors sided with Sheeran, who maintained he didn't rip off the Marvin Gaye classic "Let's Get It On" when he created his own song "Thinking Out Loud," reports NBC News. Jurors reached a unanimous verdict after three hours of deliberation. Sheeran "briefly put his hands over his face in relief before standing and hugging his lawyer," per the AP. NBC notes that his wife, Cherry Seaborn, and song co-writer Amy Wadge were in tears as the verdict was read.

During the two-week trial over copyright infringement, Sheeran told the court that he was inspired to write his song after the death of a grandfather. As for the songs' similarities, Sheeran maintained that pop music only uses so many chords, and overlap is inevitable. The case was brought not by the heirs of the late Gaye but by those of his co-writer, Ed Townsend. The latter's daughter, Kathryn Townsend Griffin, said she had hoped to avoid trial, "but I have to protect my father’s legacy.” (Sheeran suggested he would be through with music if convicted.)