We have some breaking
news to tell you about.
A verdict in the copyright
trial involving pop singer Ed Sheeran.
He's accused
of stealing the musical composition
of his Grammy winning song,
thinking out Loud,
from Marvin Gaye's classic
Let's Get It On.
CNN's Kelly
Wallace is outside the courthouse.
Chloe, what is the verdict?
Yes, well, as you said, the verdict is in
and the jury has found Ed Sheeran
not liable.
He did not infringe on Marvin
Gaye's Let's Get It on his 1973 hit.
So the verdict has just come out
moments ago.
We are waiting for Ed Sheeran,
his attorneys, and Katherine Townsend
and her attorneys to make their way out.
We're hoping that
perhaps they will address reporters
right here behind me.
But this is a very significant moment
for the music industry.
Ed Sheeran said
when he took the stand
in his testimony
that this was a common four
chord progression.
And attorneys for Ed Sheeran
laid it all out
over the course of a few days
showing that this four chord progression
that is in Let's Get It On.
That's also in Ed Sheeran's
Thinking Out Loud
was commonplace
that it was in dozens of songs
before Thinking Out Loud
and also in songs that predate
Let's Get It On.
And so Ed
Sheeran had said,
if you all do this
and make it
so that every time a musician
has to go to the Townsend family
to use this for chord progression
that I'm done.
I can't even be a musician anymore.
And it made
they made a very strong
closing arguments.
Ed Sheeran's legal team
saying that this would stifle
the creativity of musicians everywhere
and that that is not what copyright
law is all about.
It is to obviously protect music
and protect
one's intellectual property,
but at the same time
allow for creativity.
So it's a big moment.
We are expecting, I'm sure,
to hopefully say a few words.
And obviously this news
is just breaking now.
So we will keep you posted.
All right, Chloe, stand by.
We will we will check back in with you.
I just want to play the sound bite
for everybody.
I want to play the music
so they can hear it.
And then we're going
to go to Areva martin,
our legal commentator.
So take a listen at home, Don and I
will be loving you
to 70
on
this day.
Yes, love.
So again,
there's the music in question
and the jury finding Ed Sheeran
not liable here.
Let's bring in attorney
and legal affairs
commentator Areva martin.
Areva, it's great to see you.
Chloe was just talking about
how impactful
this is for the music industry
that this really came down to creativity.
Ed Sheeran saying
if he can't
have that four chord progression,
he can't be creative.
What do you make of this verdict?
Yeah, I'm not surprised by the verdict.
Very difficult case.
Obviously,
the Townsend family felt
very passionate that Ed Sheeran had
a, you know,
use the four chord progression
that was in the song
that was
co-written with Marvin
Gaye by their father.
But I think what was impactful
for the jury was that Ed
Sheeran was able
to put on evidence
that this for chord
progression was used in songs
even before Marvin Gaye.
And Townsend
recorded that very popular song
by Marvin Gaye.
And I think that had a big impact
on this jury,
because ultimately,
if the court
the four chord
progression was used before.
Let's get it on then.
It's very difficult to make a claim
that the Townsend family
was entitled to damages for Ed Sheeran
using something
that had already been
used by other musicians.
And what do you think this means
for copyright cases like this
moving forward within the music industry?
These cases are always
pretty challenging cases
to establish liability,
and I think this case will make it
even more difficult.
And that was the case
that Ed Sheeran
and his team was making was Red
Hook in pop culture, in pop music,
I should say.
This for chord
progression is used in lots of songs.
And if there had been a determination
that he was liable for damages
or that this was in fact
copyright infringement,
then you would have seen
a slew of lawsuits by lots of artists,
and it would have made it very difficult
for artists to
make songs and to
be free from these kinds of losses.
So this is a significant verdict.
I think it's a significant verdict
for other songwriters as well.
Right.
Really setting that precedent
moving forward.
Areva martin,
thanks so much for your expertize.
We sure do appreciate it.
Again, Ed Sheeran found
not liable in that copyright.