Daughter of songwriter accusing Ed Sheeran of ripping off hit Marvin Gaye song collapses in court

Ed Sheeran’s copyright trial in New York was thrown into disorder yesterday as the woman suing the pop star collapsed in court.

Kathryn Townsend Griffin, who is among the heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend suing Ed Sheeran for allegedly ripping off parts of the 1973 soul classic Let’s Get it On – co-written by her father – fell while trying to leave Manhattan Federal Court on Wednesday on the third day of the trial. 

She was helped up by several people but had to be stretchered out of court and was taken to hospital.

Ms Townsend Griffin claims Ed Sheeran’s 2014 hit Thinking Out Loud bears ‘striking similarities’ to the song co-authored by her father and Marvin Gaye.

Kathryn Townsend Griffin (pictured centre) collapsed in court on Wednesday afternoon

A stretcher was brought in to assist her following her collapse

A stretcher was brought in to assist her following her collapse

Sheeran leaves Manhattan Federal Court on the second day of his copyright infringement trial

Sheeran leaves Manhattan Federal Court on the second day of his copyright infringement trial

Her lawyers did not disclose the reason for Ms Townsend Griffin fainting but said that she has a pre-existing medical condition. 

Ed Sheeran’s lawsuits 

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is one of the best-selling artists of all time and is worth around $200million.

The pop singer has also faced a number of lawsuits alleging copyright issues.

In 2016, he was sued by songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard for $20million. They said his single Photograph copied elements of their song, Amazing.

In 2017, the heirs of Ed Townsend filed the Let’s Get it On case. The case was dismissed without prejudice. 

A year later, the estate filed a new lawsuit. Despite Sheeran’s attempts to have it dismissed again, it has gone ahead. 

Last year, Sheeran won a copyright battle at the High Court in London over his 2017 song Shape Of You. 

Sheeran had been sued by musician Sami Chokri over the similarities with a refrain in the song.

Mr Chokri claimed the phrase ‘Oh I’ in Sheeran’s song was ‘strikingly similar’ to the ‘Oh Why’ hook in his track. 

Shape Of You was the UK’s best-selling song of 2017 in the UK. 

The incident caused a seven-minute delay before Judge Louis Stanton ordered the proceedings to continue.

Music expert Alexander Stewart’s outlined the similarities between the two hit songs, noting how they ‘have the same harmonic rhythm’ while pointing out melodic similarities in the verse, chorus and interlude. 

A computer generated version of Let’s Get it On was played in court during Mr Stewart’s testimony, which took up all of the proceedings on Wednesday.

Insider reported that laughter broke out in the courtroom as the computer-generated version of Let’s Get it On was played to highlight the similarities between the tracks.

A plaintiff lawyer asked Dr Alexander Stewart: ‘Did that sound particularly soulful to you?’

Sheeran’s lawyer objected.

Stewart explained that the original track used a four-chord progression through the song.

He told the jury that Sheeran repeats a very similar progression in verses of Thinking Out Loud – though the lyrics and melodies differ. 

The day before, Sheeran, 32, took the stand to deny all wrongdoing. 

Lawyer Ben Crump, for the plaintiffs, showed a video of the star performing a mash-up of both songs on stage, which he said amounted to a ‘confession’. 

‘We have a smoking gun,’ he said, and added that the case was about ‘giving credit where credit is due’. 

Sheeran told the jury that he would have been ‘quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that’.

He argued that it was ‘quite simple to weave in and out of songs’ that are in the same key, and that many pop songs share the same chord progressions. 

‘You could go from Let it Be to No Woman, No Cry and switch back,’ Sheeran testified, referring to the Beatles and Bob Marley classics. 

Sheeran – who is one of the best-selling artists of all time and is worth around $200million – said that he composed Thinking Out Loud with co-writer Amy Wadge in a collaborative writing session inspired by his grandparents’ romance.

The trial is expected to last for roughly a week. Townsend’s estate are suing for $100mn.

Jury selection began on Monday 24 April, with Sheeran first appearing to testify on Tuesday. 

Sheeran’s label Atlantic Records and Sony/ATV Music Publishing are also named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Ed Sheeran arrives at Manhattan federal court in New York, Wednesday, 26 April, 2023

Ed Sheeran arrives at Manhattan federal court in New York, Wednesday, 26 April, 2023

Sheeran is accused of ripping off Marvin Gaye's 1973 soul classic  Let's Get it On

Sheeran is accused of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s 1973 soul classic  Let’s Get it On

The heirs of Ed Townsend (pictured), Gaye's co-writer on the 1973 classic, have sued Sheeran, alleging 'striking similarities' between the 2014 track and the Motown hit

The heirs of Ed Townsend (pictured), Gaye’s co-writer on the 1973 classic, have sued Sheeran, alleging ‘striking similarities’ between the 2014 track and the Motown hit 

Let’s Get It On has been heard in countless films and commercials and garnered hundreds of millions of streams, spins and radio plays since it came out in 1973.

Townsend, who also wrote the 1958 R&B doo-wop hit For Your Love, was a singer, songwriter and lawyer. He died in 2003.

Thinking Out Loud won a Grammy for Song of the Year in 2016. 

Ed Sheeran has sold more than 150million records worldwide, winning Song of the Year in 2016 for Thinking Out Loud, five Brit awards in the United Kingdom and six Billboard Music Awards. 

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