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Ed Sheeran trial – live: Singer threatens to quit music if he loses copyright trial ahead of new album release.
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‘If that happens I’m done, I’m stopping!’ Ed Sheeran tells NYC court he’ll QUIT music if he’s found guilty of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get it On’ – as he brands $100M copyright trial ‘insulting’.
Grammy-award-winning British singer-songwriter, Ed Sheeran stated on Monday that if he is proven guilty of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s soul classic ‘Let’s Get It On,’ he will quit music, calling the allegations ‘insulting.’
The singer of “Shape of You,” who is being sued for copyright infringement in Manhattan Federal Court, New York, declared he would stop writing music if found guilty of plagiarizing Marvin Gaye’s Soul standard “Let’s Get it On.”
Ed Sheeran was charged for sampling a four-chord progression from the 1973 soul classic in his smash song “Thinking Out Loud” by Gaye’s co-writer Ed Townsend’s heirs. They are asking for a staggering $100 million in compensation.
Ed Sheeran angrily refuted the allegations, calling them “insulting,”
When asked by his lawyer Ilene Farkas about the toll the trial is taking on him, Ed Sheeran said, “If that happens [that I’m found guilty], I’m done, I’m stopping.”
“I find it really insulting to devote my whole life to being a performer and a songwriter and have someone diminish it.”
Last week, attorneys representing Townsend’s heirs showed a video of Sheeran switching effortlessly between the songs “Thinking Out Loud” and “Let’s Get it On” during a live performance at the Manhattan federal court.
They claimed that doing so amounted to a confession that he had plagiarized the song.
However, Sheeran claimed in court on Monday that he regularly performs “mash ups” with other musicians and that he has previously mixed Van Morrison’s “Crazy in Love” and Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” with his song “Thinking Out Loud.”
‘I mash up songs at lots of gigs. Many songs have similar chords. You can go from “Let It Be” to “No Woman No Cry” and switch back,‘ he said.
‘And quite frankly, if I’d done what you’re accusing me of doing, I’d be quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that,’ he added.
He also noted that his hit song was actually been inspired by Irish musician Van Morrison.
To prove his point, the singer strummed the four-chord sequence he is accused of lifting from ‘Let’s Get it On,’ as part of his rendition of Morrison tracks, including ‘Tupelo Honey’ and ‘Crazy Love.’