Ed Sheeran gets support from fellow performers in copyright trial

During a recent copyright trial where Ed Sheeran is accused of stealing material from Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" to make a new tune a decade ago, the British singer said that he has received encouragement from other performers who share his concerns about litigation resulting from their songwriting. Sheeran offered a spirited defence during his second day on the witness stand and stated that all songwriters view such allegations as a threat to their work. The trial, which is now in its second week, stems from a lawsuit filed by Ed Townsend's heirs several years ago. They are seeking unspecified damages.

During an opening statement last week, Townsend attorney Ben Crump claimed that a Zurich concert clip in which Sheeran can be heard singing on stage between "Let's Get It On" and the alleged offending song, "Thinking Out Loud," amounted to "smoking gun" proof that Sheeran was violating copyrights.

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Sheeran's attorney, Ilene Farkas, countered Crump's claim by providing the jury with a mini-concert on Monday from her client. Sheeran picked up a guitar from behind his witness chair whenever she asked him to demonstrate how he could switch from his song to somebody else's and back again in a practice known as mashups. Sheeran said he used the mashups to "spice it up a bit" during concerts, generally choosing songs that utilized similar chords.

Sheeran stated that he did not copy anything from "Let's Get It On" when he wrote his song and expressed his admiration for Van Morrison, calling the Northern Irish singer "one of the most important influences in my life". He said his record label even referred to "Thinking Out Loud" as "the Van Morrison song".

Sheeran's good humour all but vanished when he faced cross-examination as attorney Patrick Frank asked him about testimony from an expert witness. Sheeran said he couldn't believe that somebody would listen to one of his songs and then "diminish it by saying I stole it," adding that he found it really insulting.

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