However, Structured Asset Sales, partial owners of Townsend's copyrights, later filed a new lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which was ultimately unsuccessful.
The appeals court ruled that the two songs shared only "basic musical building blocks" that could not be owned by a single songwriter, Billboard reported.
The panel of appeals court judges ruled, "The four-chord progression that is common in pop music, even when combined with a syncopated harmonic rhythm, is too well researched to reach the threshold of originality that copyright law requires. Overprotection of such basic elements would threaten to stifle creativity and undermine the purpose of copyright law.
"Neither the melody nor the lyrics of "Thinking Out' Loud" bear any resemblance to those of "Let's Get It On." There are undeniable and obvious differences between them. In the realm of popular songs, many, if not most, compositions bear some resemblance to previous songs. So while a similar chord progression and harmonic rhythm may create a similar sound and feel, it is not enough," the court added.
"This ruling is consistent with the jury's rejection of any infringement claims in the prior case, finding that Ed and Amy created 'Thinking Out Loud' independently," said Ed's attorney, Donald Zakarin of the law firm Pryor Cashman. | BGNES
