之后，艾德·希兰公开反对他所谓的“危险的”版权主张打赢官司据称，他在创作格莱美获奖歌曲《大声思考》时抄袭了马文·盖经典歌曲《让我们开始吧》
这位音乐家周四在曼哈顿联邦法院外对记者说，他“显然很高兴”陪审团做出了有利于他的裁决。
“但与此同时，我感到难以置信的沮丧，像这样毫无根据的索赔被允许上法庭，”他说。
希兰被这首歌的已故联合作者埃德·汤森的家人指控抄袭了《让我们开始吧》的乐谱。
该诉讼称，希兰在未经1973年灵魂经典歌曲“让我们开始吧”许可的情况下，为他2014年的歌曲“大声思考”采用了节奏、和弦进行和其他元素。
施林周四表示，这些歌曲有“显著不同的歌词、旋律和四个和弦，这些也是不同的，世界各地的作曲家每天都在使用。”
“这些和弦是常见的构建模块，早在《让我们开始吧》被创作出来之前就被用来创作音乐，而且在我们都离开后很久还会被用来创作音乐，”他说。“它们在歌曲作者的‘字母表’中，是我们的工具包，应该放在那里供我们所有人使用。没有人拥有它们或它们的玩法，就像没有人拥有蓝色一样。”
施林批评了他所谓的原告音乐学家在审判期间操纵陪审团对两首歌曲进行“误导性比较”的企图。
“我非常感激陪审团看穿了这些企图，”他说。“对我来说，这似乎非常危险，无论是对那些可能被说服提出虚假索赔的潜在索赔者，还是那些面对他们的歌曲作者来说。”
希兰说，如果陪审团认定他负有责任，“我们可能就要对歌曲作者的创作自由说再见了”。
“我们需要能够创作自己的原创音乐，进行独立创作，而不必担心这种创造力会被错误地质疑，”他说。
希兰对诉讼感到沮丧还有另一个原因——他说他错过了他祖母在爱尔兰的葬礼，因为他在纽约参加审判。
“我只是一个弹吉他的人，喜欢写音乐给人们欣赏。我不会也永远不会让自己成为一个任人摆布的存钱罐，”他说。
施林感谢《大声思考》(Thinking Out Loud)的联合作者艾米·沃奇(Amy Wadge)，以及评审团“做出了有助于保护美国和世界各地词曲作者创作过程的决定。”
判决后，原告拒绝在法庭外发表声明。
在公开辩论中，原告律师，著名的民权律师本·克伦普说，这个案件是关于“在该表扬的地方给予表扬。”
克伦普说，施兰“认识到了《让我们开始吧》的魔力”，并侵犯了这首为他赢得第一座格莱美奖的歌曲的版权。
这不是两人的音乐第一次成为版权诉讼的焦点。希兰去年赢得了一场涉及《你的形状》的版权侵权案件，而盖伊的继承人没有参与目前的诉讼，他们在2015年赢得了一场针对罗宾·西克和法瑞尔·威廉姆斯的案件，涉及“放弃它”
Ed Sheeran speaks outs after winning 'Thinking Out Loud' copyright case
Ed Sheeran spoke out against what he called "dangerous" copyright claims afterdefeating a lawsuitthat alleged he copied the Marvin Gaye classic "Let's Get It On" when he wrote his Grammy-winning song "Thinking Out Loud."
Addressing reporters outside Manhattan federal court Thursday, the musician said he was "obviously happy" the jury ruled in his favor.
"But at the same time, I'm unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all," he said.
Sheeran had been accused of copying the sheet music for "Let's Get It On" by the family of the song's late co-writer, Ed Townsend.
The lawsuit claimed that Sheeran took the rhythm, chord progression and other elements for his 2014 song "Thinking Out Loud" without permission from the 1973 soul classic "Let's Get It On."
Sheeran said Thursday the songs have "dramatically different lyrics, melodies and four chords which are also different and used by songwriters every day, all over the world."
"These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before 'Let's Get It On' was written and will be used to make music long after we are all gone," he said. "They are in a songwriter's 'alphabet,' our toolkit, and should be there for all of us to use. No one owns them or the way they are played, in the same way that nobody owns the color blue."
Sheeran criticized what he called attempts by the plaintiff's musicologist to manipulate the jury during the trial to make "misleading comparisons" between the two songs.
"I'm very grateful that the jury saw through those attempts," he said. "This seems so dangerous to me, both for potential claimants who may be convinced to bring a bogus claim, as well as those songwriters facing them."
If the jury had found he was liable, "we might as well say goodbye to the creative freedom of songwriters," Sheeran said.
"We need to be able to write our original music and engage in independent creation without worrying at every step of the way that such creativity will be wrongly called into question," he said.
Singer Ed Sheeran speaks to the media, after after his copyright trial at Manhattan federal court, in New York City, May 4, 2023.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Sheeran was frustrated about the lawsuit for another reason -- he said he missed his grandmother's funeral in Ireland because he was in New York for the trial.
"I'm just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy. I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake," he said.
Sheeran thanked the co-writer of "Thinking Out Loud," Amy Wadge, as well as the jury for "making the decision that will help protect the creative process of songwriters here in the United States and around the world."
The plaintiffs declined to make a statement outside the courthouse following the verdict.
During opening arguments, the plaintiffs' attorney, renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump, said the case is about "giving credit where credit is due."
Crump said Sheeran "recognized the magic of 'Let's Get It On'" and infringed on its copyright for the tune that won him his first Grammy.
This wasn't the first time either man's music has been the center of a copyright trial. Sheeran won a copyright infringement case last year involving "Shape of You," while Gaye's heirs, who were not involved in the current lawsuit, won a case in 2015 against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams involving "Got to Give it Up."
