Ed Sheeran has won a US court case brought over claims that he copied components of Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On for the writing of Thinking Out Loud.
Sheeran’s 2014 hit has more than 2.2 billion streams on Spotify.
The federal jury in New York decided that Sheeran did not copy from Gaye’s song. The verdict in favour of Sheeran in the copyright infringement case was deliberated on for just three hours by the jury.
The case has concluded as Sheeran is about to release new album - (Subtract) via Atlantic Records on May 5.
It follows a High Court victory last year for the songwriter over claims in a separate case made about his 2017 smash Shape Of You.
During the two-week trial in Manhattan, the jury heard from musicologists and saw a performance by Sheeran. The plaintiffs in the case included the daughter of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 soul classic recorded by Marvin Gaye.
In a statement read outside the court, Ed Sheeran said: “I am obviously very happy with the outcome of this case, and it looks like I’m not going to have to retire from my day job, after all. But at the same time, I am unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all.”