Ed Sheeran case: A Jury determined that “Thinking out Loud” does not infringe upon “Lets Get it on” Yet, if the case had ended differently songwriting might have been permanently jeopardised.
Ed Sheeran was, to put it mildly, relieved when a federal jury decided on May 4 that his song “Thinking Out Loud,” which he co-wrote with Amy Wadge, does not violate the copyright of Marvin Gaye’s “Lets Get it on,” as he has threatened to do if he lost the case.
But the entire industry of professional songwriters was also keeping a careful eye on the situation and feeling a fair amount of apprehension.
According to James “JHart” Abrahart, who has written songs for Justing Biber, Usher, Camila Cabello, and Mneskin, ” if this case had turned out differently, it would have completely changed the landscape”
The latest episode of rolling stone music now features writers Jenna Andrews, who co-wrote BTS ” Butter” and Permission to Dance,” and Jamie Hartman, who has written for the Backstreet Boys, Lewis Capaldi, Jennifer Hudson, and Calvin Harris.
They also talk about the Sheeran lawsuit’s potential repercussions, the boundaries of musical originality in pop music, and the ongoing fallout from the “Blurred Lines” case.
You can access the episode here through your preferred podcast source, go straight to Apple podcasts or Spotify.
The Songwriter claim in the episode that they were particularly frightened by the claim that song’s chord progression alone was protected by copyright since they could not fathom how such fundamental components of music could be keep off-limits, There are just so many chords you can employ claims Andrews.
“Ed and Amy had a new thought over a traditional arrangement,” claims Hartman. “Its new to come up with an original music and lyric.
That is the summary you must perform that on a daily basis if you are professional writer,
However, the “Blurred Lines” case and other recent judgements have already made songwriters and musicians feel uneasy, which means nascent works routinely get deletec before anybody hears them.
The writers claim that a judgement against Sheeran would have had a profoundly chilling impact. When someone says, “oh, this reminds you of something,” Andrews finds it to be quite annoying. And occasionally they are so distracted by their fear of tripping over something that they are unable to even identify the song.
JHart says, “I have a few colleagues who have gone to court.” Any one of them in particular has been seriously impacted.
They experience triggers in rooms and are genuinely terrified of them. And some find it to be oppressive. I’ve observed how it impacts people, both financially and obviously in terms of their freedom and capacity for creativity.
