Ed Sheeran in court again for alleged plagiarism

roberty

Sheeran's in the news again, in legal trouble for alleged plagiarism, again:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/26/ed-sheeran-testifies-in-marvin-gaye-plagiarism-case-most-pop-songs-can-fit-over-most-pop-songs

The phrase "most pop songs can fit over most other pop songs" made me chuckle. It might be true but it tells you more about the people who make it than the form itself

In the interest of research I listened to Sheeran's song briefly and now I feel sick. It's a blatant rip off of Let's Get It On but he didn't lift the melody so legally he should be okay

The fact that this is a recurring theme in Sheeran's career tells me two things:

1. He regularly 'borrows heavily' from other people's work
2. He knows how to do it in a way that is legally sound

thecolourbox

Or, 3. That basic repetitive chord sequences aren't legally ownable

And I suppose, 4. Ed Sheeran is very wealthy, and people think he can afford to give them some money

roberty

thecolourbox said:

Or, 3. That basic repetitive chord sequences aren't legally ownable

And I suppose, 4. Ed Sheeran is very wealthy, and people think he can afford to give them some money

It's not just the chords, the backing track might as well be a sample

Creed_Clicks

Or 5. Wait for the posters calling him shite shite shite.

Yorkie

You can't copyright circuits.

Sorry, wrong thread!

darthed1981

This one has more legs than the last one, the chord sequence and the rhythm clearly are a bit similar to LGIO, but it's nowhere near as blatant as the godawful Robin Thicke thing from a few years ago.

Sadly, this sort of thing will run and run.  Though no doubt Marvin Gaye's stuff does ok for a legacy artist, he isn't the Beatles, and no doubt the cheque for a few grand those relatives of the songwriter gets every year aren't paying all the bills - a share of Ed's sales sure would.

After a while, and not very long it gets silly though, as already pointed out, while the chords are similar, it's sodding 1-4-5 in both cases!  It's like claiming to be the first person to take a shit.

It will be open season if someone actually wins one of these, thousands of suits and writing music for commercial reasons won't be worth it.

I doubt they will win but I certainly hope they won't.

stickyfiddle

I have little time for Sheerans music but the current cases against him are insane and will set precedents that uttrly fuck the music industry if he loses. 

distressed

I tend to avoid everything from a guitar-based Ed Sheeran.

Yorkie

I've listened to one of the many comparisons on YouTube. If you alternate between the two songs, it sounds like a fucking duet. 

stickyfiddle

Yorkie said:

I've listened to one of the many comparisons on YouTube. If you alternate between the two songs, it sounds like a fucking duet. 

Of course, but you can do the same thing with thousands of different combinations of songs. I would hope that everyone here could understand that. 

Yorkie

stickyfiddle said:

Yorkie said:

I've listened to one of the many comparisons on YouTube. If you alternate between the two songs, it sounds like a fucking duet. 

Of course, but you can do the same thing with thousands of different combinations of songs. I would hope that everyone here could understand that. 

Yes, of course you can. And the number gets bigger every time someone records something new. The thing with modern recorded arts is that you seem to have to compete on equal ground against dead people. It is unfair as it is, yet this case could make it almost impossible. 

roberty

stickyfiddle said:

Yorkie said:

I've listened to one of the many comparisons on YouTube. If you alternate between the two songs, it sounds like a fucking duet. 

Of course, but you can do the same thing with thousands of different combinations of songs. I would hope that everyone here could understand that. 

These are my points. It's a blatant rip off but he knows what to rip off and how. The legal challenge sounds like a punt, but I can imagine they are aggrieved

merlin

Axis of Awesome. 

Huge and disgraceful plagiarism.

Sheeran, go to jail, go directly to jail. Do not pass "GO". Do not collect £200,000

the_jaffa

I've just given the Ed Sheeran song a bit of a listen and interestingly it made me think of Van Morrison more than Marvin Gaye. That gets a mention in the Grauniad article too.

Musicwolf

roberty said:

but he didn't lift the melody so legally he should be okay

He lifted neither the melody nor the lyrics.  In other words - the song.

What is similar is the arrangement.  How many times over the years have I heard band members say "I've got a new song" and then proceed to play a chord sequence with no words or melody and somehow think that they've written a song.

DefaultM

There’s a few videos of him saying you can sing any song over the same 4 chords and that it’s all he does. Then he does it and everyone goes mad cheering like he’s a magician. He’s just incredibly unoriginal and people love it because it sounds familiar and nice to them.

thing

When I was a young kid and playing the piano I used to worry that all of the notes would be used up in songs before I was old enough to write one. Seems my worries were justified. If Sheeran looses this then every 12 bar recorded by anyone after 1940 will be open to scrutiny.

You cant say that Sheeran's song sounds like Marvin Gaye's because FFS any rock song recorded in the last 60 years is going to sound similar to some other rock song.

How many times has everyone here come up with a tune, played it to bandmates and be told 'Oh that sounds a bit like/insert tune of choice' There are only 12 notes, there are only so many permutations.

Sporky

That's one reason why cello is better. The way I play cello there are far more than 12 notes. 

thing

Sporky said:

That's one reason why cello is better. The way I play cello there are far more than 12 notes. 

Some for people, some for cats.

Yorkie

Plagiarism is a crime.
Self-plagiarism is consistency at work.
Would be funny if you could prosecute them both equally  

CountryDave

Status Quo should sue, erm Status Quo