Ed Sheeranisn’t going anywhere.
The singer-songwriter, 32, shared an uplifting message to fans on Thursdayafter being found not liablein a lawsuit filed against him foralleged copyright infringementover his 2014 single “Thinking Out Loud.”
Ed Sheeran.TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty
Sheeran continued, sharing that the chords used in his hit song are “common building blocks which were used to create music long before ‘Let’s Get It On,'” equating them to a songwriter’s “alphabet” and arguing that “no one owns them, or the way they are played, in the same way, nobody owns the color blue.”
“This seems so dangerous to me, both for potential claimants who may be convinced to bring a bogus claim, as well as those songwriters facing them,” he added. “It is simply wrong. By stopping this practice, we can also properly support genuine music copyright claims so that legitimate claims are rightly heard and resolved.”
Sheeran then explained that if the jury had found him liable, it would negatively impact “creative freedom of songwriters,” who should be able to create “original music and engage in independent creation without worrying at every step of the way that such creativity will be wrongly called into question.”
“Like artists everywhere, [songwriter] Amy [Wadge] and I work hard to independently create songs which are often based around real-life, personal experiences,” Sheeran added. “It is devastating to be accused of stealing other people’s songs when we have put so much work into our livelihoods.”
“I am just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy. I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake. Having to be in New York for this trial has meant that I have missed being with my family at my grandmother’s funeral in Ireland. I won’t get that time back.”
After thanking the jury, his legal team and Wadge, Sheeran encouraged the music community to “come together to bring back common sense.”
“These claims need to be stopped so that the creative process can carry on, and we can all just go back to making music,” he concluded. “At the same time, we absolutely need trusted individuals, real experts who help support the process of protecting copyright. Thank you.”
Ed Sheeran.Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty
“I find it to be really insulting,” he added. “I work really hard to be where I’m at.”
Luckily for fans, Sheeran is staying, as he hugged his legal team and cowriter Amy Wadge after the verdict was read, before he approached plaintiff Kathryn Griffin Townsend to chat and then exchanged a hug. Before exiting the courtroom, Sheeran also embraced and kissed wife Cherry Seaborn, who was in attendance.
“I feel like the truth was heard and the truth was believed,” Sheeran told PEOPLE exclusively in the courthouse following the decision. “It’s nice that we can both move on with our lives now — it’s sad that it had to come to this.”
source: people.com
