(Scypre.com) – In a case in which he was accused of plagiarizing Marvin Gaye’s music in his song “Let’s Get It On”, a jury ruled that he wasn’t responsible.
After the verdict was announced, he stood up and hugged his team before thanking the jury.
Outside the courthouse, he spoke to the press but didn’t answer questions. He said he’d stop writing music if he lost the trial, but he’s happy he didn’t have to retire from his day job. He said in court that he would stop if that happened.
The jury saw the attempts to show “misleading comparisons” made by the experts of the two songs. It’s devastating to be accused of stealing someone else’s song, and we need songwriters and the writing community to come together to bring back common sense.
The popular musician took the stand and described the lawsuit as “frustrating” and “insulting” because he works hard to write his own music. It took jurors 2 hours and 30 minutes to make a decision.
The lawsuit was brought by the family of the co-writers of the song. According to reports, the lawsuit sought $100 million in damages.
While on the stand during the trial, he was adamant he’d come up with the song himself, sparring at times with the lawsuit’s attorney on the subject of “independent creation.”
The attorney explained that at one point during the concert, the songs were combined. He said that merging the song was a confession.
He said, “I’d be an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that.”
The music expert gave a “horrible depiction” of “Thinking Out Loud” during the trial. “I know he’s wrong because I wrote it myself, ” he said about the song in question. “If I can be honest, I think what he is doing is criminal.”