The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled on Friday that Ed Sheeran’s hit “Thinking Out Loud” did not infringe upon the copyright of Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic, “Let’s Get It On.” The court determined that the musical elements were too generic to warrant exclusive ownership, dismissing the claim brought by Structured Asset Sales (SAS), a company with a partial stake in the rights to Gaye's song.

The lawsuit by SAS had claimed that Sheeran’s track unlawfully copied structural elements from “Let’s Get It On,” particularly its chord progression and rhythm. However, the judges pointed out that these components had been used in other songs predating Gaye’s work, including “Georgy Girl” by The Seekers and “Since I Lost My Baby” by The Temptations, reinforcing their argument that such elements are common in popular music.

The appeals court agreed with a previous lower court ruling that Sheeran’s song, co-written with Amy Wadge and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014, shared only “fundamental musical building blocks” with Gaye’s composition. The panel of judges stressed that copyright protection does not extend to basic musical elements such as common chord progressions and rhythms, which appear frequently across musical genres.

“The four-chord progression at issue—ubiquitous in pop music—even coupled with a syncopated harmonic rhythm, is too well-explored to meet the originality threshold that copyright law demands,” the Second Circuit stated. The court further emphasized that “overprotecting such basic elements would threaten to stifle creativity and undermine the purpose of copyright law.”

This decision follows a jury trial in a related case brought by the family of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer. That trial concluded last year with a jury ruling in favor of Sheeran, finding no infringement.

Despite this legal win, Sheeran is not yet free of litigation over the song. SAS has another ongoing lawsuit against him, which argues for broader copyright protection related to the sound recording of “Let’s Get It On” rather than just its sheet music. That case is currently on hold.

In a statement to Billboard, SAS owner David Pullman criticized the Second Circuit’s decision, arguing it overlooked the broader implications of copyright law and relied too narrowly on specific examples. However, Sheeran’s attorney, Donald Zakarin, expressed satisfaction with the outcome, stating, “This ruling is consistent with the jury’s rejection of any claim of infringement in the [earlier] case, finding that Ed and Amy independently created ‘Thinking Out Loud.’”