The development comes nearly five months after a jury cleared the singer of accusations that his "Thinking Out Loud" infringed the earlier song.
With an infringement trial set for next month, the judge weighed in on two key questions about what kind of musical evidence jurors will be allowed to hear.
A clip shows Sheeran toggling between his song and a Marvin Gaye classic, but his attorneys say it's "irrelevant" to the copyright case.
Allowing a lawsuit over "basic musical building blocks" to move forward toward trial will hurt future songwriters, Sheeran's attorneys argue.
