Did Ed Sheeran ACTUALLY Plagiarize Marvin Gaye?

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 2 May 2023 1:23 pm

Very well explained argument ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpzLD-SAwW8

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 2 May 2023 7:01 pm

There must be an awful lot of nod-nod/wink-wink that goes on in the pop songwriting and publishing business. Combine this stylistic signature drum groove with that stylistic signature chord progression and that melodic pattern and…..WHOOOPS! Sorry I accidentally copied a song that was a hit 50 years ago. Please don’t sue me, I’ll give you half my publishing royalties.

Jeez. Some people’s parents…

Paul Strojan · Post by **Paul Strojan** » 3 May 2023 8:31 pm

"I'm thinking tonight of my blue eyes/
Concerning a great speckled bird/
I didn't know God made honky-tonk angels/
and went back to the wild side of life."

People have been taking inspiration from each other forever. If the writers of The Wild Side of Life didn't get credit for It wasn't God who made Honky Tonk Angels then I don't see how Ed Sheeran can be seen to plagiarize Let's Get It On. If anything Ed Sheeran is assuming the likeness of Marvin Gaye.

Don R Brown · Post by **Don R Brown** » 4 May 2023 4:45 am

It's truly age-old, and starts early in our lives. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "Baa-Baa-Black Sheep" and the singing alphabet "A-B-C-D-E-F-G" are the same also.

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 4 May 2023 5:59 am

Right, Don!
Okay, here’s how to ruin a great song for everybody you know. Sing the first two lines of “Twinkle Little Star” or “Alphabet Song” next time you hear “What A Wonderful World”.

PS-the jury says “Nope”.

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 4 May 2023 10:31 am

Jury just found him not guilty

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 4 May 2023 8:16 pm

Even with this ruling, I still say that if they did patents the way they have done copyrights, a lot of the technological stuff we take for granted would have never happened, and many of the modern medicines we now have the privilege of using would never have seen the light of day. With a patent, you get 20 years to make hay before an invention becomes public domain. Science and technology has always assumed that new generations would be standing on the shoulders of giants, and that has been well accepted. IMO, not in the music world. Stand on the shoulders of a giant in the music biz with any success and they sue you, even 50-80 years after the fact. But IMO, this ruling is a step in the right direction.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 22 May 2023 9:31 am

My brain is kinda wired to pick up musical similarities, I do it frequently. Someone recently posted a video of Joshua Ray Walker's "I Get Sexy After Dark", and I just kept hearing "Highway 40 Blues".

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 23 May 2023 3:15 am

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 23 May 2023 12:03 pm

Donny Hinson wrote:My brain is kinda wired to pick up musical similarities, I do it frequently. Someone recently posted a video of Joshua Ray Walker's "I Get Sexy After Dark", and I just kept hearing "Highway 40 Blues".

It’s a musician thing, especially play by ear musicians. We hear the 7 or 8 stock chord progressions, the 7 or 8 stock grooves, the dozen or so stock licks.the 7 or 8 “moods”, and the Mary Had A Little Lamb melody notes all the time. So we hear plagiarism all the time, to the point that it’s irrelevant. And when somebody gets a case thrown at them, we should all be like, okay now you’re going to have to sue everybody in pop music.

Ricky Newman · Post by **Ricky Newman** » 9 Jun 2023 7:10 am

And of course, sometimes people really do get away with ripping other artists off:

The Drifters in 1960:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j9aDGstcfk

The Grass Roots in 1967:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5NtzB-voZo

The melody was sort of "laundered" through an Italian pop song (recorded by the English band The Rokes in 1966): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtijYC5gxVQ

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 9 Jun 2023 7:57 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOmnGzAKLvg

If this isn't a direct rip off of "Stormy" by the Classics IV, then my ears are broken.

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 9 Jun 2023 8:09 am

But at least the Grass Roots credited the Italian composers on the record.

Don R Brown · Post by **Don R Brown** » 9 Jun 2023 5:32 pm

I'll leave it to others whether these are rip-offs or just pretty similar.

Dallas Wayne https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdHXO4S3H9E

Mavericks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6ygbVguiGE

and

Jessie Daniel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmwGBEbfsEY

Mickey Newberry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq9byiEqQCY

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 10 Jun 2023 4:36 pm

Andy Volk wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOmnGzAKLvg

If this isn't a direct rip off of "Stormy" by the Classics IV, then my ears are broken.

I think there’s a reason why Santana covered both Stormy (1967) and Spooky (1968). I don’t know if they did them both on the same album, but that would have been hilarious. And at least the Classics Four plagiarized their own chord riff.

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Did Ed Sheeran ACTUALLY Plagiarize Marvin Gaye?

Did Ed Sheeran ACTUALLY Plagiarize Marvin Gaye?

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