during his copyright trial from other performers who also worry that they’ll be sued as he battles claims that he stole material from Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” to make a new tune a decade ago. on the witness stand after he was called by his lawyer to answer questions at a trial at which he is accused of infringing the copyrights of the 1973 soul classic Gaye created with fellow songwriter Ed Townsend.
During an opening statement last week, Townsend attorney Ben Crump said a Zurich concert clip in which Sheeran can be heard segueing on stage between “Let’s Get It On” and the alleged offending song, “Thinking Out Loud,” amounted to “smoking gun” proof that Sheeran was violating copyrights. He said he used the mashups to “spice it up a bit” during concerts, generally choosing songs that utilized similar chords.