JUST IN: A Manhattan jury has found that Ed Sheeran's hit "Thinking Out Loud" did not infringe on the copyright of the classic Marvin Gaye song "Let's Get It On" https://t.co/8cnm7zlUlR

— CNN (@CNN) May 4, 2023

The plaintiffs had alleged similarities between the chord progression, harmonic rhythm, and certain melodies in the two songs. Sheeran’s legal team had argued that the melodies are different and the elements used in both songs are common in pop music.

[Not surprised. Pop music reuses chord progressions all the time, so you have to go a lot farther than that to win an infringement claim. George Harrison didn’t get so lucky with “My Sweet Lord.” The similarities to “He’s So Fine” were a lot clearer in that case, no matter how valiantly Harrison tried to defend himself by walking the jury through his composition effort. — Ed]