Message to Ed Sheeran: Countersue the Marvin Gaye Estate Parasites
“Let’s get it on.”
Let’s get it on. Yes, let’s do precisely that.
The Marvin Gaye (estate)-Ed Sheeran legal case should never have gone to trial.
Do these people even listen to music? Seriously, that’s the question I’d like to ask the leeches fanged into Marvin Gaye’s estate. They’re suing singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran for copyright infraction. They’re accusing him of musical plagiarism for allegedly copycatting/stealing the tone, style, and notes co-penned nearly half a century ago by the late great R&B legend.
Imagine that, lawyered-up parasites sucking on the royalties of a guy who died way back in 1984 — descendants of legend who themselves have never written nor produced anything of value — now accusing the young English pop star of creative theft. Now, they want millions in damages. Disgusting.
Most of these musical plagiarism trials are ridiculous. Most are frivolous, nothing more than chasing a fast buck and hoping to settle out of court. However, this particular trial makes no sense at all. Not only are there zero readily apparent similarities between the two songs (released half a century apart), but the actual influence for the modern hit song was also someone else’s music entirely, and the remake was actively encouraged. See, what’s what truly great artists do — they encourage each other.
Cue “Crazy Love,” off the 1970 album masterpiece by Van Morrison, Moondance. That song (actually made more famous by Ray Charles, even though Van Morrison wrote it) predated Marvin Gaye’s wonderful song by three years but I sure don’t see Van Morrison suing Marvin Gaye.
Yesterday, Sheeran went to great lengths to prove this (and successfully did so). He took the witness stand in a New York City courtroom with an acoustic guitar. Sheeran cited Van Morrison (not Marvin Gaye) as his primary influence. He even told the story of meeting Morrison for breakfast in a London hotel a few years ago when “Van the Man” gave Sheeran a green light to play around with his own melody(ies) and lyrics — and admittedly, Sheehan did precisely that. I’ve written extensively about Morrison’s music and prolific career in the past, and the similarities in styles are obvious. But, for all of Morrison’s faults (and they are many), at least he’s not suing another songwriter for some creative Vennisms.
Interesting video comparison here:
Years ago, I remember George Harrison getting sued for millions when his hit 1971 song “My Sweet Lord” bore some similarities to the girl group hit from nearly a decade earlier, “He’s So Fine.” Harrison lost in court and had to pay, which was preposterous. Some years later, Led Zeppelin was sued for lifting the opening stanzas to another (obscure) song in their massive rock opus “Stairway to Heaven.” I thought that particular case of copyright infringement was clear and obvious. Subconcious and accidental? Maybe. Surprisingly, Led Zeppelin won in court, so what do I know (listen to the two songs — it’s a glaring rip-off). Certainly, we can agree many singers steal music from other people who actually write the songs, and those cases deserve correction and proper compensation.
But this case of Marvin Gaye’s song, “Let’s Get It On” being stolen is laughable. It’s clearly motivated by a money train of lawyers who hope they can find a tone-deaf jury who doesn’t understand there are only so many notes, sounds, and rhythms in music, and there are bound to be some influences and crossover.
Gee, imitation used to be called “the highest form of flattery.” Not anymore. Enticed by the prospect of suing successful songwriters and musicians, this has the frightening possibility of turning into a musical Camp Lejeune, that is, if it’s not stopped here and now. Hopefully, Sheeran will seek damages of his own — both financially and to his reputation — by countersuing. Yes, countersue. Take Marvin Gaye’s parasites to the cleaners.
Show them what “Let’s Get It On” really means — in a court of law.
Note of Correction: Its actually the heirs to the Ed Townsend estate who are suing Ed Sheeran over intellectual property. Ed Townsend was the principal songwriter with Marvin Gaye for the 1973 hit song “Let’s Get It On.”
