Ed Sheeran celebrated his copyright trial triumph on May 5, 2023, by performing an impromptu street concert in Manhattan.
The singer-songwriter, 32, performed in front of his SoHo pop-up shop to promote “Ed Sheeran – The Subtract Experience Pop-Up.” “Can I sing you one song before I go,” Sheeran asked the crowd before breaking out into his recent single, “Boat,” as he climbed onto the roof of a parked vehicle and began strumming his guitar. The crowd erupted in cheers.
The performance took place just one day after a federal jury in New York City determined that Sheeran’s 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud” did not plagiarise Marvin Gaye’s iconic “What’s Going On?”
Sheeran stated in a prepared statement that it was “devastating” to be accused of plagiarising elements of Gaye’s 1973 R&B classic.
As Sheeran explained, the jury’s decision “will help to protect the creative process of songwriters here in the United States and around the world.” And he ultimately isn’t “going to have to retire from my day job after all,” after vowing to do so if he were to be found liable in the suit.
“But, at the same time, I am unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all,” the musician wrote in a statement sighted by Tru News Report. “We have spent the last eight years talking about two songs with dramatically different lyrics, melodies and four chords which are also different and used by songwriters every day, all over the world.”
After thanking the jury, his legal team and the track’s co-writer, Sheeran encouraged the music community to “come together to bring back common sense.”
“These claims need to be stopped so that the creative process can carry on, and we can all just go back to making music,” he concluded. “At the same time, we absolutely need trusted individuals, real experts who help support the process of protecting copyright. Thank you.”
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