British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is being sued yet again over similarities between his hit track “Thinking Out Loud” and the Marvin Gaye classic “Let’s Get It On.”
Owners of the song’s copyright claim that it lifts from Gaye’s 1972 hit and they are seeking $100 million in damages, according to a report in Variety.
The suit has been filed by investment banker David Pullman and a company called Structured Asset Sales, which has acquired one-third of the song shares.
“We tried to work it out amicably, but it didn’t work out and we did what we were required to do within a certain amount of time,” Pullman told Newsday.
“It’s one of the most streamed songs in history. It’s been streamed over 1 billion times. Plus, there’s the synchronization license, for commercials (and other uses), there’s touring and merchandising income we listed approximately 50 categories of revenue streams,” he added.
Townsend has refiled their suit, Pullman added.
His heirs sued Sheeran over “Thinking Out Loud” in 2016, but a judge dismissed the case without prejudice in February 2017.
“It was dismissed solely because they didn’t serve the defendants overseas since many of them were in the UK” Pullman said.
Townsend, who died in August 2003 at age 74, was a celebrated songwriter-producer who composed more than 200 songs.
