The jury in New York had ruled that the singer’s 2014 hit ‘Thinking Out Loud’ did not copy Marvin Gaye’s track in a case that was being watched keenly by fellow recording artists.
The hitmaker had said earlier in the trial that he would quit music should he have lost the case, having said, “If that happens, I’m done, I’m stopping.”
Following the verdict, on the steps of the Manhattan courtroom, Sheeran referenced that previous remark whilst also expressing his disdain for the case as a whole.
Photo: Michael M. Santiago
“I am obviously very happy with the outcome of the case,” he said, “and it looks like I am not having to retire from my day job after all.
“But at the same time I’m unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all.”
The case had been brought against Sheeran by heirs of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 slow jam ‘Let’s Get It On’ with Gaye.
Last year, Ed Sheeran also won a case against his work at the High Court in London, defending another of his smash hits, ‘Shape of You’, from accusations it plagiarised a track by grime artist Sami Chokri.
