NEW YORK (AP) — A jury concluded Thursday that British singer Ed Sheeran didn’t steal key components of Marvin Gaye’s classic 1970s tune “Let’s Get It On” when he created his hit song “Thinking Out Loud.”

The verdict in New York came after a two-week trial that featured a courtroom performance by Sheeran as the singer insisted, sometimes angrily, that the trial was a threat to all musicians who create their own music.

Sheeran sat with his legal team throughout the trial, defending himself against the lawsuit by the heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend, who created the 1973 soul classic with Gaye. They said “Thinking Out Loud” had so many similarities to “Let’s Get It On” that it violated the song’s copyright protection.

At the trial’s start, attorney Ben Crump told jurors on behalf of the Townsend heirs that Sheeran himself sometimes performed the two songs together. The jury saw video of a concert in Switzerland in which Sheeran can be heard segueing on stage between “Let’s Get It On” and “Thinking Out Loud.” Crump said that was “smoking gun” proof he stole from the famous tune.

When Sheeran testified, he repeatedly picked up a guitar resting behind him on the witness stand to demonstrate how he seamlessly creates “mashups” of songs during concerts to “spice it up a bit” for his sizeable crowds.

The English pop star’s cheerful attitude on display under questioning from his attorney, Ilene Farkas, all but vanished under cross examination.

“When you write songs, somebody comes after you,” Sheeran said during his testimony as he explained that the case was being closely watched by others in the industry.

He insisted that he stole nothing from “Let’s Get it On” when he wrote his tune.

Sheeran’s heirs said in their lawsuit that “Thinking Out Loud” had “striking similarities” and “overt common elements” that made it obvious that it had copied “Let’s Get It On,” a song that has been featured in numerous films and commercials and scored hundreds of millions of streams spins and radio plays in the past half century.

Sheeran’s song, which came out in 2014, was a hit, winning a Grammy for song of the year. His lawyers argued that the songs shared versions of a similar and unprotectable chord progression freely available to all songwriters.

Gaye was killed in 1984 at age 44, shot by his father as he tried to intervene in a fight between his parents. HE had been a Motown superstar since the 1960s, although his songs released in the 1970s made him a generational musical giant.

Townsend, who also wrote the 1958 R&B doo-wop hit “For Your Love,” was a singer, songwriter and lawyer who died in 2003. Kathryn Townsend Griffin, his daughter, testified during the trial that she thought Sheeran was “a great artist with a great future.”

She said she had hoped the lawsuit would not result in a trial, “but I have to protect my father’s legacy.”

The post Jury finds Ed Sheeran didn’t copy Marvin Gaye classic appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

Union Square is about to get even more fun this summer.

Popular Lower Manhattan brewery Torch & Crown will bring its beloved brews to Union Square this summer with a pop-up starting on May 11 and running through November.

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Torch & Crown will set up shop in the historic Union Square Pavilion with a variety of hand-crafted drafts. A few stand-outs on the menu will include Almost Famous, a smooth, bright, aromatic hazy IPA packed with peach and grapefruit notes, and Share House, an easy-drinking crisp ale made for summertime.

In this open-air, dog-friendly space, you can order a beer while people-watching and soaking up the warm weather. Plus, the brewery will serve food made with local ingredients sourced from Union Square’s famous Green Market located right outside the pavilion every week. 

“What we love most about beer is the community, and Torch & Crown’s mission has always been to serve every gathering bringing New Yorkers together. Moving into summer, we’re thrilled to continue this ethos with the launch of our new location in one of Manhattan’s most vibrant and lively hubs, Union Square. With its open-air design and centuries-old history, the Union Square Pavilion is the best place for an outdoor pint on a beautiful day with friends, family, and pets (dogs are welcome!),” John Danztler, co-owner and CEO of Torch & Crown, said in a statement.

Danztler said he hopes the space will “serve as New York’s backyard.”

In addition to the Union Square location, Torch & Crown will also take over the legendary Best Pizza & Dive Bar in the Hamptons for Torch & Crown Montauk. This location will debut on Memorial Day weekend and will be open on weekends only.

Dantzler founded Torch & Crown with his friend Joe Correia after the duo started home brewing as teenagers when their fake IDs got confiscated at an East Village bar. The young brewers started winning awards for their brews (which their dads had to accept on their behalf). During a trip to Ireland, the friends decided over a pint of Guinness that they’d someday open their own brewery. In the fall of 2020, they opened Torch & Crown, which was at that time Manhattan’s first and only production brewery. Since then, Bronx Brewery and That Witch Ales You have opened up brewing operations in Manhattan as well, adding to the craft beer scene in NYC.

* This article was originally published here