He obviously maintains that there was no copying going on. WONG: So he can't be like, Marvin Gaye - never heard of him. But also because during this concert several years ago, Ed Sheeran was in the middle of playing his song 'Thinking Out Loud' and then briefly switched into. MA: Though probably not in Ed Sheeran's case and not just because 'Let's Get It On' is, like, a super-duper-famous song. And that's a defense in a copyright case. WONG: If a defendant never heard the plaintiff's song, then any similarity between the two is just a coincidence. JENKINS: Are the similarities between these two songs - are they a complete coincidence? Or is there enough to justify an inference that copying occurred? The first question the jury would have to decide. WONG: Most of Arnstein's lawsuits got tossed out as baseless, but his lawsuit against Cole Porter would go down in legal history because in that case, the court came up with this two-part test for determining music copyright claims. And so if you look through the history of music copyright cases, you'll see all these cases called Arnstein versus this, Arnstein versus that. He was just completely convinced that people were stealing his music, even though they probably weren't. JENKINS: He was an unsuccessful songwriter, and he had what one commentator called persecution mania. MA: Oh, yeah, I love some Ella Fitzgerald. Now, the porter was Cole Porter, famous composer of various show tunes and jazz standards like 'Night And Day.'ĮLLA FITZGERALD: (Singing) I think of you. WONG: She says to understand this case, you have to go back to 1946, to a case called Arnstein v. MA: And so Jennifer seemed like the perfect person to explain how music copyright infringement cases like the case of the two Eds get decided. She specializes in music copyright law, and she still plays piano.

WAILIN WONG, BYLINE: Jennifer became a law professor, but she is still a music nerd. I played the piano, played the violin, played the flute, was not terribly good at any of them. JENNIFER JENKINS: I had dreams of being a rock star. Ed should matter to music lovers everywhere.ĪDRIAN MA, BYLINE: When she was just a kid, Jennifer Jenkins thought she might grow up to be a musician. Adrian Ma and Wailin Wong from our daily economics show The Indicator From Planet Money explain why this case of Ed v. And Ed Townsend's heirs have accused another musician of writing a song that copies 'Let's Get It On.'ĮD SHEERAN: (Singing) And, baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23.īLOCK: That's 'Thinking Out Loud' by the British musician Ed Sheeran. MARVIN GAYE: (Singing) I've been really trying, baby.īLOCK: 'Let's Get It On' was performed by Marvin Gaye, but it was co-written by Ed Townsend. What's the difference between musical inspiration and intellectual theft? That's the question at the heart of a big copyright trial that began this week in a federal court in Manhattan.

The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald