MUSIC
Video evidence presented against Ed Sheeran as copyright trial begins
Ed Sheeran was in court on Tuesday, where he is accused of illegal copyright infringement.
The court case examining if Ed Sheeran illegally copied the music of the late Marvin Gaye saw its second day of hearings on Tuesday.
Sheeran is accused by the estate of Gaye’s co-writer, Ed Townsend, for using the late music legend’s tune 1973′s ‘Let’s Get it On’ for his song ‘Thinking Out Loud’.
‘Thinking Out Loud’ won a 2016 Grammy Award.
What happened in court Tuesday?
After the Manhattan court finalized jury selection Monday, Tuesday morning saw lawyers of the Townsend heirs make their case that the four-time Grammy Award-winning musician should have followed music copyright laws and to give “credit where credit is due.”
The attorney, Ben Crump, got right to the point, as he referenced a live performance video of Sheeran in 2014 from Zurich, that he called a “smoking gun” and in itself a “confession”.
The lawyer played the YouTube video of Sheeran merging the two songs during the concert.
“In this case, we have a smoking gun,” Crump said after showing the video to the court. “Mr. Ed Sheeran himself in concert merged ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and ‘Let’s Get it On’.”
“When people show you who they are, believe them,” the attorney continued. “When someone provides you a voluntary confession, believe them.”
“Make no mistake about it: the evidence will show that Mr. Ed Sheeran… made a confession.”
Sheeran capturing Gaye’s magic
Crump continued his opening statement to assert that Marvin Gaye’s ‘70′s track was “the perfect song for that moment.”
“Some of you may know what I mean when I talk about that moment,” he added.
“[Sheeran] recognized the magic”, the attorney said, “[and] decided to capture a bit of that magic for his own benefit.”
What about Sheeran’s defense?
The 32-year-old British-born musician was wearing a dark suit and sat with his attorneys on either side of him as he listened to the opening arguments.
Sheeran’s lawyer, Illene Farkas, defended the songwriter by arguing that ‘Thinking Out Loud’ was actually a heartfelt track based on an “emotional conversation” the singer once had about life and loss — and questioned, why would Sheeran play a mashup in concert if he thought he was doing something wrong?
“Do you really think if Mr. Sheeran publicly copied ‘Let’s Get it On,’ would he go on stage and play it?” Farkas asked the jury rhetorically.
“[From] Buddy Holly to The Beach Boys to The Beegees to Elton John… have used this chord progression before Ed Townsend,” Farkas argued.