Ed Sheeran slammed with lawsuit for similarities between Thinking Out Loud and Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On

Ed Sheeran has landed himself in another copyright infringement issue as he faces a lawsuit for allegedly copying his Grammy-winning song Thinking Out Loud. The legal suit filed by the family of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 hit Let's Get It On with Marvin Gaye, claims that Sheeran's award-winning song is a copy of the Gaye track.

According a report by People, the Townsend family has claimed that Sheeran's 2014 single bear similarities in terms of melody, harmony, and rhythm composition with the 1973 hit song Let's Get It On.

"The Defendants copied the 'heart' of 'Let's' and repeated it continuously throughout 'Thinking,'" claimed the lawsuit. "The melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic compositions of 'Thinking' are substantially and/or strikingly similar to the drum composition of 'Let's.'"

IBTimes UK has reached out to the spokesperson of Sheeran, but hasn't received a comment yet.

However, it wasn't only the Townsend heir who noted the similarities between the two songs as boyband Boyz II Men too highlighted the resemblance during their 25th anniversary show in New Jersey. The R&B vocal group began with a cover of Gaye's Let's Get It On during their performance before transitioning to Sheeran's controversial number.

The news of the latest copyright lawsuit against the British singer comes after Sheeran was recently sued by Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard for $20 m (£153) over his song Photograph in June. The pair had accused the 25-year-old singer of plagiarising from their song Amazing recorded by X Factor winner Matt Cardle in 2012.

Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud

Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On