Ed Townsend estate withdraws from Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ plagiarism case

Ed Townsend’s estate has officially withdrawn their appeal in the years-long Ed Sheeran plagiarism lawsuit that was first filed in 2016 and was seemingly put to rest in May with Sheeran being awarded the victory.

• READ MORE: Ed Sheeran – ‘Subtract’ review: his troubled times laid bare

In May, Sheeran was declared not guilty of plagiarism in a case filed by heirs of Ed Townsend in 2016 over the estate’s claims that the ‘Thinking Out Loud’ singer copied Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’.

Following the verdict, Townsend’s heirs announced their intent to appeal for a re-trial. Now, however, it has been revealed according to court documents that the estate has withdrawn its appeal, making it such that it will be unable to refile the case at a later date, giving Ed Sheeran a definitive win in the case.

Reuters has also confirmed the withdrawal, with Ed Sheeran’s lawyer Ilene Farkas telling the publication that Townsend’s estate “recognized that an appeal would end up with the verdict being affirmed but also with them being exposed to legal fees and costs, and wisely withdrew.”

Sheeran told reporters outside court in May following the verdict: “I am obviously very happy with the outcome of the case and it looks like I am not having to retire from my day job after all. But at the same time I’m unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all.”

Following the verdict in May, Sheeran released his latest album, ‘-‘ (“subtract”). The album scored a three-star review from Nick Levine for NME. Levine wrote: “Most of ‘-’ is doggedly one-paced, an often drawback of Dessner’s mellow production stylings. If it becomes a little samey in places, it could be argued that this is an authentic representation of the mental health issues Sheeran was working through at the time. Certainly, some of his lyrical refrains – breaking waves, falling tears – add to the impression that ‘-‘ is an unfiltered snapshot of this artist’s mindset at an especially low ebb.”

The singer-songwriter is next slated to release an upcoming album, ‘Autumn Variations’. The album will be his second of the year, following ‘-‘ (‘Subtract’) in May. The new album is due for release on September 29 via his own Gingerbread Man Records and like ‘Subtract’, it was produced by The National‘s Aaron Dessner.

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