Wow,Marvin’s influence extended far and wide.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46754883
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Wow,Marvin’s influence extended far and wide.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46754883
Interesting, isn't it, that it's always those greedy, griftin' Gayes who find these ... situations. Wonder how many people of Sheeran's age have ever even heard of Marvin Gaye?
Ed Sheeran, if he were a truly talented "artist" should have known better....... Looks like he is just another pretender.
Again this is stupid. Please show exactly where in the song [[melody and chord structure ONLY) was copied from "Let's Get It On." If one of you say "listen to the bass, tempo, rhythm track, the feeling, etc." you have no argument with any merit.
Actually, in the eyes of the law, it is an argument with merit, thanks to the ridiculous Blurred Lines decision, which saw Thicke and Pharrell losing for appropriating the feel of Got To Give It Up.
And there are closer musical similarities between Thinking Out Loud and Let's Get It On. It's clearly a nod to the Gaye song, but with an alteration of the 2nd chord in the chord progression.
Ed was also often performing Thinking Out Loud and seguing into Let's Get It On. That's how this lawsuit has come about. He effectively acknowledged its influence on his song. A stupid move.
Ed Sheeran's song/video has over 2 billion views. This should be taken into account when they get to the award/settlement phase.
Some interesting facts here as it relates to Ed Sheeran:
Comparisons between songs
Mr Townsend's family were looking forward to the case being heard in court, their lawyer Pat Frank told Reuters.
They say that Sheeran and the record companies "copied the heart of Let's and repeated it continuously throughout Thinking", according to court papers filed in 2016.
In 2017 Sheeran settled a $20m copyright infringement claim against him in the US, over his hit song Photograph.
Songwriters Thomas Leonard and Martin Harrington had sued the singer in 2016, claiming his hit ballad had a similar structure to their song Amazing.
Also in 2017, the team behind TLC's 1999 single No Scrubs were given writing credits on Ed Sheeran's Shape of You. It came after critics and fans made comparisons between elements of the songs.
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Anybody who listens to "Thinking Out Loud" knows it cribs the hell out of "Let's Get It On". Even with changes in chord structure. For the record, I like both songs.
But you never know how these things will turn out. If Tom Petty beat Sam Smith over "Stay With Me" sounding like "I Won't Back Down" and Phil Spector beat George Harrison over "He's So Fine" and "My Sweet Lord" [[both of which I thought were generous jury verdicts), I can see the Gayes winning this.
I'm still wondering how Chris Stapleton absolutely stole the music for his "Tennessee Whiskey" cover from Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind" without attribution to Billy Foster & Ellington Jordan. Surprised that hasn't been in court yet.
I called it when I said "I wonder who the Gaye's will sue next?"
It may someday come to court. These guys need to stop stealing and come up with their own stuff! How stupid is it to steal from extremely well known classic material and think you'll get away with it. I don't find people that do this talented or honest at all! They make all the money can off of someone else creation and give no credit to the originator whatsoever!
It is actually Ed Townsend's family. Remember him?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6qAUpN2ge8
Ed Townsend's family is suing... Ed Townsend's family.
Marvin's family ain't said sh*t.
As usual when dealing with those greedy, griftin' Gayes most of the comments are from posters I ignore. SCORE! #savingtime. Anyhoo, it's pretty much impossible that, 50 years on, a young songwriter sat down, thought "I'm gonna rip off Marvin Gaye!!!" and proceeded to do so. It's utterly absurd. And damaging to Gaye's honor. Get jobs, Gayes. Do something positive in the world. Be gracious and thankful when your imaginations lead you to think a contemporary songwriter echoes your moneymaker. Ask Diana Ross for advice if you need. Will they sue me for copying an MG song with this post? Probably. Let's get it on!!
I have yet to be provided with specific examples in "Thinking Out Loud" and "Blurred Lines" that were direct, note-for-note, same chord structure copies from the two Marvin Gaye songs...
lol!! . Can you imagine a song emulating LOVE HANGOVER or UPSIDE DOWN to this degree being received with just a shrug. :rolleyes:
I did not know that George Harrison had provided Billy Preston with this tune
https://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=mabaEff0s-E
Interesting . I see why George said if anything it's based on OH HAPPY DAY.
My final message to everyone in this thread:
https://media.giphy.com/media/hdCVcfA6YOTKg/giphy.gif
Well I Don’t wanna start up any war again, but I don’t hear anything of let’s get it on in that song! To me that song sounds almost like country rock but with the usual meandering vocal which is the style nowadays.
That's because there aren't any. But, as I said earlier, the chord progression in the former is pretty much the same as Let's Get It On with one exception. The rhythmic movement of the backing music is similar too. Considering his live performances of the song often incorporating Let's Get It On, you've got a pretty strong case for a lawsuit.
Robin and Pharrell got done for stealing a vibe. That's a precedent, and a very dangerous one. But I can tell you why Robin and Pharrell lost the Blurred Lines case. From what I read about the case at the time, both came across as arrogrant in their testimonies. Not something that's going to endear you to a dury.
As a slight aside, Ed Sheeran has become a very derivative songwriter. Pretty easy to reference the songs he's nicking.
One thing that might be worth noting. Many of the great composers, Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Rossini, copied Works from their own and others’ compositions many many times. The great film composer Enio Moriconne has plagiarized himself a number of times though I don’t think he’s ever been accused of plagiarizing copyright works, he has lifted melodies from classical music such as Wagner and Beethoven and included it in his spaghetti western soundtracks. There is a line somewhere where they say you have to be a genius to know how to copy things the right way and get away with it. I don’t remember the exact quote but it’s something like that.