Ed Townsend Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Thania Garcia Alanis Morissette and Ed Sheeran will join Luke Bryan as “American Idol” guest judges on May 7. The pair have been selected to take over for Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, who will be traveling overseas for their upcoming performances at King Charles III’s coronation. ABC revealed the switch on May 1, adding that Perry and Richie will still be checking into “Idol” with live updates from all the festivities at Windsor Castle. Morissette and Sheeran are scheduled to take over the show’s “616” episode, where America will cast their votes for the remaining top 5 contestants. This is the first “Idol” appearance for both of the guest judges, who will deliver performances of their own on the episode, with Morissette singing one of her many hits and Sheeran singing his new single, the ballad “Boat.”

Ed Sheeran returned to the stand in a Manhattan federal courthouse yesterday (May 1) in the ongoing "Let's Get It On" plagiarism trial, wherein the English pop star is accused of stealing elements of Marvin Gaye's 1973 song in the creation of his 2014 hit "Thinking Out Loud." Questioned by his attorney Ilene Farkas on his plans if he loses the lawsuit, Sheeran suggested that he would quit music entirely. “If that happens, I’m done.

Ed Sheeran has said he will leave the music industry if he loses his ongoing copyright infringement trial.The singer-songwriter is currently going through court proceedings for a plagiarism trial related to his 2015 song ‘Thinking Out Loud’.Back in 2016, the pop star was sued by Ed Townsend – one of the co-writers on the classic Marvin Gaye track ‘Let’s Get It On’ – who accused him of copying the song in ‘Thinking Out Loud’.The accusations allege that Sheeran and co-writer Amy Wadge copied the rhythm of the 1973 song, as well as an ascending four-chord sequence. It also references “striking similarities” between the two tracks that violate the copyright.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Ed Sheeran had strong words for a musicologist on Monday as the court hearing over alleged similarities between his hit “Thinking Out Loud” and Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” entered its second week. “I think what he is doing is criminal,” Sheeran said of the prior testimony from Alexander Stewart, a musicologist hired as an expert witness by Gaye’s estate, according to the New York Times. “I don’t know why he’s allowed to be an expert.” Sheeran, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Publishing are being sued by three heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend, who is the credited co-writer with Gaye on the 1973 song.

Ed Sheeran’s ongoing plagiarism trial, after the court was played an AI version of Marvin Gaye’s song ‘Let’s Get It On’.The ongoing lawsuit stems back to 2017, when the pop star was sued by Ed Townsend — one of the co-writers on the Marvin Gaye track ‘Let’s Get It On’ — who accused him of copying the song in his hit release ‘Thinking Out Loud’.The accusations Sheeran faces allege that he (and his co-writer Amy Wadge) copied an ascending four-chord sequence and rhythm of the 1973 track. It also references “striking similarities” that violate the copyright.Now, in a recent development of the trial, it has been reported that laughter broke out in the court after members of the jury were made to listen to a “hideous” AI version of the Marvin Gaye song.According to Insider, those attending court on Wednesday (April 26) listened to the artificially generated take of the track, provided by a plaintiff musicology expert.

Ed Sheeran’s not the world’s most talented guitar player, that’s for certain. And don’t go dissing me for stating the obvious, not least because that’s according to Sheeran himself.

Thania Garcia Some of the most high-profile copyright infringement cases happen in the music industry, where the accusation of plagiarism is as nebulous as a concept can get. It happens sometimes by accident — an “unconscious borrowing” — and other times it’s on purpose, deemed a “musical homage.” Ed Sheeran has been at the center of the latest most-talked-about case brought by the heirs of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote “Let’s Get It On” with Marvin Gaye. Sheeran made his first court appearance earlier this week to deny the claims that his 2014 song “Thinking Out Loud” lifts key elements of Gaye’s 1973 classic.

Ed Sheeran performed a snippet of “Thinking Out Loud” in front of a Manhattan courtroom Thursday, singing and strumming a few notes on an acoustic guitar during his Marvin Gaye copyright infringement trial.While testifying on the witness stand, the “Shape of You” singer took a tan Lowden wooden acoustic guitar and played the basic four-chord progression highlighting the 2014 hit single, giving the courtroom an intimate teaser of his gigs.Sheeran’s appearance came after his attorney Ilene Farkas called him to the stand to refute comments made by the plaintiffs’ musicologist Alexander Stewart, who argued that the first 24 seconds of “Thinking Out Loud” were similar to the beginning of Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On.”However, Sheeran said that Stewart’s analysis was wrong, and performed the version he said he plays at every concert before he then played Stewart’s version.“It works very well with him, but it’s not the truth,” Sheeran said.The 32-year-old British singer-songwriter explained the origins of “Thinking Out Loud” and how the song was created after the death of his grandfather and watching his grandmother’s health decline.The song, which was written with longtime collaborator Amy Wadge, came to life after Sheeran hopped out of the shower of his home and heard Wadge strumming the chords.Kathryn Townsend Griffin — the daughter of the late Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 R&B classic with Gaye — wasn’t present Thursday. She had collapsed in court Wednesday and left the Moynihan Courthouse on a stretcher.Her attorney Ben Crump said that she was feeling better and is expected to return to court next week.Judge Louis L.

Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud copyright trial took an unexpected turn this week as one of his accusers, Kathryn Townsend Griffin, collapsed inside New York's Manhattan Federal Court.The chart-topping singer, 32, was at the scene as he is attempting to clear his name of plagiarising Marvin Gaye's iconic tune Let's Get It On from 1973. According to reports, after falling to the floor, Kathryn – an heir of original songwriter Ed Townsend – was helped up by several individuals and received medical attention before being stretchered out of the court house.

A video that Ed Sheeran’s lawyers tried to stop being shown to jurors in the big ‘Thinking Out Loud’ song-theft trial is the “smoking gun” that proves that the pop star ripped off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote his song. Or so said a lawyer representing the estate of ‘Let’s Get It On’ co-writer Ed Townsend as that trial got underway in New York yesterday. But not so, reckoned Sheeran himself.

ongoing lawsuit — which accuses Ed Sheeran of copying a Marvin Gaye song — a lawyer has accused the singer-songwriter of “confessing” to the infringement by mashing up the two songs at one of his concerts.The lawsuit extends back to 2017 when Ed Townsend — one of the co-writers on the Marvin Gaye track ‘Let’s Get It On’ — accused the British pop icon of copying the track in his hit song ‘Thinking Out Loud’.Now taken to court, the accusations allege that Sheeran and co-writer Amy Wadge copied the rhythm of the 1973 track, as well as an ascending four-chord sequence. It also references “striking similarities” between the two tracks, that violate the copyright.During the ongoing case, Sheeran’s attorney Irene Farkas told the court that the “heartfelt song” was written “without copying” Gaye, and features elements that are commonly used in pop music.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic A copyright trial in a Manhattan federal courtroom pitting Ed Sheeran against the heirs of a co-writer of Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” saw the pop star taking the stand Tuesday, offering strong retorts to attorneys’ arguments that he had stolen elements of the 1970s hit for his own “Thinking Out Loud.” One piece of evidence that the judge had left in limbo in pre-trial hearings was a fan-shot video of Sheeran mashing up the two songs in concert in 2014. U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton, who had previously left the matter of whether to allow the medley unresolved, ultimately ruled Tuesday that a 30-second clip be played, despite Sheeran’s attorneys’ argument that it was “irrelevant and prejudicial.”

Ed Sheeran arrives at the Manhattan Federal Court ahead of the first day of his trial in New York City on Tuesday (April 25).

The long awaited trial over whether or not Ed Sheeran ripped off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote his song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ finally gets underway in New York later today. This follows the jury selection process yesterday.Originally scheduled to commence in November 2020, but delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sheeran is accused of infringing the copyright of late songwriter Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the Gaye classic.

The US judge overseeing the latest Ed Sheeran song-theft legal battle has declined to ban the plaintiffs in the case from showing a YouTube video in which the musician himself mashes together his song with the one he’s accused of ripping off. Though Sheeran’s lawyers are still free to object again to that video being shown to jurors when the dispute is properly in court.This is the legal battle where Sheeran is accused of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ on his 2014 track ‘Thinking Out Loud’.

No high profile song-theft legal battle is complete without a YouTube video mashing together the two songs that are part of the dispute. But should that mash-up be shown in court? And what if the alleged song thief made the mash-up? Ed Sheeran’s legal team would like it to be known that mash-ups of this kind have no place in a courtroom, especially if they were made by Ed Sheeran.So, yes, while last year’s big song theft legal battle involving Sheeran was in the UK courts, this year we’re back in the American system with the long running litigation over his song ‘Thinking Out Loud’.

Ed Sheeran’s legal team last week had one last go at trying to stop one of the song-theft lawsuits relating to his song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ from proceeding to trial, urging the judge overseeing the case to reconsider a recent decision he made about the copyright dispute.It’s alleged that Sheeran ripped off the Marvin Gaye song ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote ‘Thinking Out Loud’. Based on those allegations, the estate of ‘Let’s Get It On’ co-writer Ed Townsend sued Sheeran for copyright infringement.

The move comes six months after Sheeran, 31, was cleared of copying his hit song Shape Of You at a trial in London. Seeking damages of up to £90million, the complaint over Thinking Out Loud was originally lodged in 2016 by Structured Asset Sales, which owns a stake in the copyrights of late American singer Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the soul classic.

A US judge has declined to dismiss one of the song-theft lawsuits that alleges Ed Sheeran ripped off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote his 2014 song ‘Thinking Out Loud’, concluding that a jury needs to consider whether the elements shared by the two songs are protected by copyright.Sheeran’s lawyers have been quite busy over the years dealing with various allegations that the musician has lifted elements of existing songs when writing his pop music. That included the headline-grabbing legal battle in the UK courts over ‘Shape Of You’, in which the Sheeran side was victorious.Over in the US, ‘Thinking Out Loud’ has resulted in multiple song-theft lawsuits.

Ed Sheeran will enter his third set of court proceedings over his songwriting, with the musician set to face a jury trial following a suit from a stakeholder in the estate of Marvin Gaye‘s co-writer.The ruling came yesterday (September 29) from Judge Louis Stanton, a senior district judge for the Southern District of New York. Per Billboard, the case will determine whether Ed Sheeran’s hit single ‘Thinking Out Loud’ is in breach of copyright due to its similarities with Gaye’s 1973 single ‘Let’s Get It On’.The suit came from Structured Asset Sales, a company that owns a stake in the copyrights of the estate of Ed Townsend – a co-writer on ‘Let’s Get It On’.

The big song-theft legal battle between Ed Sheeran and the estate of Ed Townsend – which was due to arrive in court next month – has been postponed because of the impact COVID is having on the New York courts, not to mention the ability of Team Sheeran to travel to the US.Sheeran is accused of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ on his 2014 hit ‘Thinking Out Loud’.

Ed Sheeran’s lawyers have asked that the court hearing for the big song-theft legal battle over his song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ be postponed into 2021 because of current COVID travel restrictions.

Lawyers representing the estate of the late songwriter Ed Townsend in the copyright dispute over Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ have claimed that the ongoing legal battle is another example of the music industry unfairly exploiting black musicians.The Townsend estate first sued Sheeran, his label Warner Music and publisher Sony/ATV back in 2016.