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☆ Ed Sheeran Wins Copyright Case Over Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The case involved only the compositions underlying both tracks — the lyrics, melodies and chords that can be notated on paper — and not their recordings. For older songs like “Let’s Get It On,” copyright is limited to the sheet music, or “deposit copy,” that was originally submitted to the United States Copyright Office. Kathryn Griffin Townsend, Mr. Townsend’s daughter, who wore a tan-colored coat with the word “integrity” emblazoned on the back, said she had filed her suit to protect her father’s legacy. On Day 3 of the trial, the proceedings were interrupted when she collapsed and was taken to a hospital. When Ms. Townsend returned to the courtroom on Monday morning, Mr. Sheeran embraced her.

☆ Ed Sheeran Defends Himself in Court, With His Guitar
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ed Sheeran testified with a guitar on Thursday at a closely watched copyright trial, defending his hit ballad “Thinking Out Loud” against an accusation that he had copied it from Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”Cradling his acoustic instrument in a federal courtroom in Manhattan, Mr. Sheeran demonstrated the four-chord sequence at the heart of his song, which he said was written in a few hours in early 2014 with his friend and longtime collaborator Amy Wadge. He recounted just stepping out of the shower of his home when he heard Ms. Wadge strumming the chords, and he remembered thinking: “We need to do something with that.”The song went to No. 1 in Britain and No. 2 in the United States, and in 2016 won a Grammy Award for song of the year. But in 2017, the family of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer, sued for copyright infringement, saying that the chord progression, with its syncopated pattern, was copied from “Let’s Get It On.”Mr. Sheeran has been a regular presence at the trial, which began on Monday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, listening to the testimony of his accusers, who include Kathryn Griffin Townsend, Mr. Townsend’s daughter.

☆ Stolen or Original? Hear Songs From 7 Landmark Copyright Cases.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Here is a guide to some of the most consequential music copyright cases in recent decades, along with excerpts from their recordings. In cases like these, the only material in question are the songs’ underlying compositions: the melodies, chords and lyrics that can be notated on paper. Juries must decide not only if one song copies another, but whether the earlier song was original and distinctive enough to be protected by copyright. “The problem with cases like this is that people ask the wrong question,” said Joe Bennett, a professor at the Berklee College of Music who works as a forensic musicologist in legal cases. “They ask the question, ‘How similar is song B to song A,’ whereas what they should be asking is how original is song A.”Got that?

☆ Ed Sheeran, Accused of Copying Marvin Gaye, Testifies He Wrote His Song
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The pop singer Ed Sheeran took the witness stand Tuesday at a closely watched copyright trial in which he stands accused of copying his ballad “Thinking Out Loud” from Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” and told a jury that he and a collaborator had written their song based on their own experiences. “Yes, Amy Wadge and I wrote the song ‘Thinking Out Loud,’” Mr. Sheeran testified, explaining that they created the song, about holding on to romance throughout a long life, after seeing the affection between his aged grandparents. The case was brought by the family of Ed Townsend, a producer and songwriter who created “Let’s Get It On” with Gaye in 1973. They assert that the “heart” of “Let’s Get It On” — a four-chord progression that repeats in a signature syncopated rhythm — was copied by Mr. Sheeran for his track. Lawyers for Mr. Sheeran argue that those elements are basic musical building blocks that are in the public domain and have turned up in numerous other pop songs.

☆ Ed Sheeran Trial: Did He Copy Marvin Gaye? Here’s What to Know.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A closely watched music copyright trial is set to begin Monday in federal court in Manhattan, where a jury will decide a lawsuit accusing Ed Sheeran of copying his Grammy-winning ballad “Thinking Out Loud” from Marvin Gaye’s soul classic “Let’s Get It On.”Sheeran is expected to testify at the trial, which is getting underway less than two weeks before he plans to release a new album and begin an extensive North American stadium tour. The case, originally filed in 2017, has been delayed multiple times. The music industry is keenly interested in the outcome. The trend began in 2015 when a jury found that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, in their hit “Blurred Lines,” had infringed on the copyright of another Gaye tune, “Got to Give It Up,” and they were ordered to pay more than $5 million in damages. The case shocked many legal experts — and musicians — who believed that Thicke and Williams were being penalized for using basic musical building blocks, like harmonies and rhythmic patterns, that had long been considered part of the public domain.

☆ De La Soul’s Music Is Finally Back. It’s a Bittersweet Victory.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At the Grammy Awards last month, the rap trio De La Soul was booked for the show’s 50th anniversary tribute to hip-hop, alongside more than two dozen performers. The timing was perfect, coming just a few weeks ahead of the long-delayed digital release of the group’s storied catalog. But the day before the ceremony, David Jolicoeur, who was known as Trugoy the Dove — and had long been public about having congestive heart failure — told his bandmates he was too ill to make it; Vincent Mason, a.k.a. Maseo, the group’s D.J., also had health problems. Another painful victory for De La Soul arrives on Friday, when the group’s first six albums will finally become available on streaming services after years of struggles with record companies that have kept that music — one of hip-hop’s most cherished and influential bodies of work — largely inaccessible to longtime fans, and invisible to younger audiences.

☆ When Songs Sound Similar, Courts Look for Musical DNA
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On the surface, Ed Sheeran and Led Zeppelin might not seem to have a lot in common. Led Zeppelin is a classic-rock colossus whose molten riffs are part of the foundation of heavy metal. Yet when it comes to the recent history of copyright litigation in music, Sheeran and Led Zeppelin are practically joined at the hip. In some ways, “Thinking Out Loud” bears an obvious resemblance to “Let’s Get It On.” They share nearly identical chord progressions and similar bass lines. (In this case, performance elements in the recordings are irrelevant; the suit involves only the underlying compositions.)

☆ Beyoncé Makes History at a Star-Powered Grammy Ceremony
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Ben Sisario | More About Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

LOS ANGELES — Beyoncé made Grammy history on Sunday night, setting a record at the awards’ 65th annual ceremony for the most career wins by any artist, after picking up a string of trophies for “Renaissance,” her hit album that mined decades of dance music. But she was once again shut out of the major categories, winning all four of her prizes for the night in down-ballot genre categories. Styles seemed at a loss for words as he accepted his Grammy, opening his remarks with a stunned profanity. Still, Beyoncé’s accomplishment resonated throughout the evening. Accepting her 32nd career award, Beyoncé thanked God and her family, and honored her “Uncle Jonny,” a gay relative whom she has described in the past as her “godmother” and as the person who exposed her to L.G.B.T.Q.

Persons: Beyoncé, ”, Harry Styles, ” Lizzo, Bonnie Raitt, “, Styles, God, Uncle Jonny Organizations: ANGELES, “

☆ Bob Newhart, Button-Down Comic, Is Still Standing Up at 76
▼ + stars: | 2006-03-25 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But a comedian craves the sound of laughter, and Mr. Newhart, though happily deep into his golf-playing years, cannot stay away from the stand-up circuit. It's like Russian roulette -- you're out there and it's working and you're saying, 'Thank God the bullet's not in the chamber.' "Mr. Newhart built his career on a persona that would avoid tension and thrills at all cost. ("You take a pinch of tobacco and you stuff it up your nose and it makes you sneeze? Yeah, I imagine it would, Walt!")

Persons: David McCulloch, Joseph J, Ellis, Bob Newhart's, Newhart, Sir Walter Raleigh, Walt Organizations: Brooklyn Center, Performing Arts Locations: ANGELES, Bel

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