ED SHEERAN VS. MARVIN GAYE LAWSUIT: Let's Compare!

ED SHEERAN VS. MARVIN GAYE LAWSUIT: Let's Compare!

Back to blog

24 comments

Hi Rick. From my point of view, those are completely different songs. I like Marvin Gaye as well as Ed Sheeran. But in this case, I do trust Ed Sheeran, may have been, in the last case, influenced by Gaye,

Wanderley Oliveira
Brazil

Wanderley Oliveira

I’m not a Sheeran fan but he should be sued for everything you mentioned but since the melody of the actual songs are very different.. 100 million dollars is over acting.

Johnny

Worrying decision. I thought the precedent was George Harrison’s case my sweet lord. Anything over 4 bars with an identical melody ,rhythm and harmony was the cut off. Private property is a bastion of our legal system protecting Property owners . So who owns 1-6-2-5- ? How long before that is appropriated.

Peter Scott

Sorry but I disagree that Lyrics and Melody ‘make up’ a song.. It’s that ALONG WITH the rhythmic components (aka the GROOVE).. MOST people don’t dance to “lyrics and melody”. Most people dance to the Rhythmic components (aka the GROOVE) of a song. The Melody and lyrics are what make it ‘memorable’ but it’s EVERYTHING (the groove, the melody AND the lyrics) that makes it a ‘song’.

Personally I believe it’s plagiarism to take a GROOVE and create new lyrical and melodic components over top of it..

IF that’s the case then NO HipHop/Rap song should have to give anyone credit for their ‘interpolations’ (which is much different than sampling – aka you pay someone-like myself for example- to simply perform the four bar section)..

In that case, NO Rock act should be held accountable for ‘stealing licks’ (Led Zeppelin stealing the Blues guys’ stuff, or the Stairway to heaven guitar riffs for example)..

What can be said then about Instrumental tracks (Jazz, soundtracks, etc.) then? The artists/groups can’t or shouldn’t be able to ‘copyright’ a ‘groove’?

Ed’s groove section almost completely sounds EXACTLY like Marvin Gaye’s groove section (especially after you transposed it) and, to me, that’s just not right…

Happy New Years
https://youtu.be/yhcmG-qpndw

KDubbs tha Bassist

Keith 'KDubbs' Williams

We see the same chord progressions in so many pop songs. Pretty sure a four-chord progression isn’t an infringement. Someone with no musical background and no ear shouldn’t be judging this case.

Naiya

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.