Ed Sheeran plays songs on guitar which helped him win copyright lawsuit

Ed Sheeran has played the songs that he believes helped him win his recent copyright infringement case, after showcasing how many share the same chord sequence.

Sheeran had threatened to quit the music industry if he lost the high-profile case, in which he was accused of plagiarism over his Grammy-winning 2014 song 'Thinking Out Loud' and its alleged resemblance to Marvin Gaye's classic hit 'Let's Get It On'.

After a two-week trial in a Manhattan courtroom, the jury ruled in Sheeran’s favour on 4 May.

Following the conclusion of the case, the singer said in a statement: “It's devastating to be accused of stealing someone else's song when we've put so much work into our livelihoods.

"I'm just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy. I am not and never will allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake."

During the trial, Sheeran busted out his guitar to illustrate to the court how common the four-chord progression was.

In an interview on the Howard Stern Show yesterday (10 May), he explained: “There were 101 songs and that was scratching the surface.

The Howard Stern Show

“It’s really… what I was saying is, ‘yes it’s a chord sequence you hear on successful songs’ but if you say that a song from 1973 owns this, then what about all the songs that came before?

“We found songs from the 1700s that had similar melodic stuff and there were huge songs in the 50s and huge songs in the 60s.

“No one is saying songs shouldn’t be copyrighted, but you can’t copyright a chord sequence, you just can’t. I’m just so glad it’s over, man. It was, like, eight years of my life.”

Sheeran had previously said that he believed showing the jury this chord sequence was pivotal to his win.

Good Morning America

Speaking on Good Morning America earlier this week, he was questioned about what he thought had won the jury over, to which he quickly replied: “One hundred and one songs with the same chord sequence - and that was just scratching the surface.

“It was very quick to see that and think ‘oh yeah, that’s not original’.”

When asked about his performance in court, he said: "I'd been wanting to do it [play guitar in court] for ages since it came out, but you have to do due diligence in court.

"So I just waited and knew that I would have my day to explain it and didn't rush anything."

Topics: Music, Ed Sheeran, Celebrity

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]