During the ongoing copyright infringement case against Ed Sheeran in a New York Federal Court, testimony was temporarily interrupted due to an unexpected medical emergency. Kathryn Townsend Griffin, who is suing Sheeran for allegedly violating the copyright of Marvin Gaye’s song “Let’s Get It On,” co-written by her father Ed Townsend, collapsed in court during cross-examination by one of her expert witnesses. Medical personnel and security were called to the courtroom, and all present were asked to remain in the room. Presiding Judge Louis L. Stanton allowed cross-examination to resume five minutes later after Townsend Griffin was taken to the hospital.
Earlier in the day, Townsend Griffin spoke with the press and expressed her appreciation for the jurors sacrificing their time to serve on the trial. She also reinforced that this lawsuit was not a money grab. The lawsuit alleges that Sheeran’s hit song “Thinking Out Loud” directly rips off “Let’s Get It On,” which was released in 2017.
On Tuesday, Sheeran testified on his own behalf in court, where a video played of him performing a mashup of both songs on stage during a previous performance. Sheeran noted that it was “quite simple to weave in and out of songs” that are in the same key. Sheeran has been sued for copyright infringement in the past, but last year, he won a lawsuit alleging his song “Shape of You” copied part of artist Sami Switch’s song “Oh Why.”
Ed’s been dealing with a lawsuit recently and he wanted to share a few words about it all pic.twitter.com/hnKm7VFcor
— Ed Sheeran HQ (@edsheeran) April 6, 2022
After his victory, Sheeran expressed his frustration with the situation in a video posted to Twitter. “Whilst we’re obviously happy with the result, I feel like claims like this are way too common now and have become a culture where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court, even if there is no basis for the claim. It’s really damaging to the songwriting industry,” he said. The trial is expected to last for two weeks.
