Ed Sheeran sued for $ 100 million on Song Song similarity: NPR

The Ginger troubadour was first pursued by the heirs of Edward Townsend, Jr., a co-author of "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye, whom they claim " Thinking Out Loud "crib enough to warrant legal action.

The new lawsuit, filed today in federal court in New York by a company called Structured Asset Sales (SAS), following an unsuccessful attempt by SAS to join the Townsend trial (which we call "intervener"). This request for intervention in this case was rejected on June 11, 2018.

And so, 17 days after this rejection, there is a new complaint filed by SAS herself against Sheeran, Amy Padge (her co-author on the song) , his label Atlantic Records Warner Music Group (WMG), his publisher Sony / ATV and Asylum Records, distributor of WMG

SAS buys his share of the Townsend song catalog to his son Clef Michael Townsend, heir to a unknown part of the catalog after the death of his father in 2003 SAS now claims $ 100 million in damages for the part of "Let's Get On On" that belongs to him, regardless of the portion of the royalties of the song inherited from the slice of the song contractually given to his father.

Atlantic Records and a lawyer for Sheeran declined to comment on the case

Marvin Gaye in All Saint's Road, London in 1976.

John Minihan / Getty Images

hiding the legend

rocking legend

John Minihan / Getty Images

Marvin Gaye in All Saint's Road, London in 1976.

John Minihan / Getty Images

The new costume includes detailed explanations of music theory to explain the supposed similarities of the songs – "In Gaye's song, this chord progression occurs in the touch of E flat, and in Sheeran the progression occurs in D major … the listeners will hear both progressions as functionally equivalent … Many listeners will not recognize that Frank Sinatra sang 'My Way' in D major , while Elvis Presley sang this song in C major, it's clearly the same song

This is not the first lawsuit brought against a modern hit accused of copying a Gaye song : Robin Thicke and Pharrell's song "Blurred Lines" were the subject of another lawsuit, on its alleged similarity with Gaye's 1977 hit "Got to Give It Up." Thicke and Pharrell lost that deal (and $ 5.3 million because of his judgment) in a decision deemed controversial by many – the call of the pair, largely denied, attracted more than 200 musicians.

SAS belongs to David Pullman, no stranger to the music business. Pullman is the creator of the infamous "Bowie Bonds", a financial invention (which Pullman claims to have filed) that turned the royalties from 287 of his songs into 10-year bonds, which were sold for a total of $ 55 million . The plan was almost missed, because of the timing – shortly after Bowie left his area, the music industry descended into the Wild West of the digital era, meaning that the period of ## 147 ## 39, the acquisition of bonds fell rapidly. probably their lowest point ever. However, the bonds matured and were cashed by their owners. The idea has since snowballed, with entire companies now based on the invention.