A verdict has been reached in Ed Sheeran’s copyright infringement trial

A jury has reached a unanimous verdict in the case regarding accusations that Ed Sheeran wrote his 2014 hit Thinking Out Loud by stealing a portion of the Marvin Gaye 1973 hit Let’s Get It On.

Sheeran had threatened to quit music altogether if he was found guilty. It turns out that Ed Sheeran doesn’t need to quit music at all.

The Manhattan jury ruled in favor of Sheeran after three hours of deliberation, thus concluding that the singer-songwriter did not engage in willful copyright infringement.

Sheeran had missed his grandmother’s funeral because of the trial.

He was being sued by the estate of Let’s Get It On co-writer Ed Townsend. His daughter, Kathryn Townsend Griffin, said that she did not want the case to necessarily go to trail but added, “I have to protect my father’s legacy.” Marvin Gaye’s estate, meanwhile, was not a part of the trial.

Sheeran co-wrote the song with Amy Wadge and stated that it’s about finding love at an old age. A key point in trial was a video of Ed Sheeran performing both his song and Marvin Gaye’s song in a mashup at a concert. Ben Crump, a popular lawyer in numerous recent civil rights trials who represented the Townsend family in this case, said the video was a “smoking gun.” The jury thought otherwise.

Sheeran stated that he and many artists have done mashups before and also added about performing the mashup at a concert, “If I did what you’re accusing me of, I’d be an idiot to stand in front of 25,000 people.”

The music star performed his song for the jury and explained that it was inspired by musician Van Morrison.

Ilene Farkas, Sheeran’s attorney, said, “This song was born from an emotional conversation. It was their original creation.”

During the closing arguments, Farkas claimed that Sheeran was falsely accused and stated, “We all benefit from artists being free to create and to build on what came before them.” She then explained to the jury what would happen if they found Sheeran to be guilty of the accusations, saying, “Creativity will be stifled for fear of being sued.”