A woman who is part of a cohort accusing Ed Sheeran of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On hit has collapsed in court amid the copyright trial.
Kathryn Townsend Griffin, the daughter of Gaye’s co-writer Ed Griffin, had to be taken away on a stretcher in a dramatic turn of events during the trial in New York.
She is among Griffin’s heirs who are suing the British singer over his Thinking Out Loud hit, claiming it has “‘striking similarities” to the Let’s Get It On soul classic written in 1973.
According to reports, Ms Townsend Griffin collapsed on Wednesday during testimony from musicologist Alexander Stewart.
Lawyers for both her and Mr Sheeran reportedly lifted her by her arms and legs to a place where she could receive medical attention, shouting for someone to call emergency services.
She was later removed from court on a stretcher and taken to hospital, the court heard. Her lawyer said she suffered from a pre-existing medical condition.
The incident stopped court proceedings for 15 minutes before testimony from Mr Stewart continued.
Ms Townsend Griffin is one of three claimants, along with Helen McDonald and the estate of Ed Griffin’s ex-wife, Cherrigale Townsend.
In the first day of the trial, jurors watched a video of the British pop star performing a medley of his hit song Thinking Out Loud and Let’s Get it On during a concert in Madrid.
Lawyers for heirs of songwriter ED Townsend showed the video to bolster their allegation that Sheeran, his label Warner Music Group and music publisher Sony Music Publishing, owe them a share of the profits for allegedly copying the song.
Ben Crump, a lawyer for the heirs, said in his opening statement that the performance amounted to a “confession” by Sheeran.
While taking the witness stand, Sheeran said many pop songs use the same three or four chords, and that he performs “mash-ups” of many songs at his concerts.
“You could go from Let it Be to No Woman, No Cry and switch back,” Sheeran testified, referring to the Beatles and Bob Marley classics.
“If I had done what you’re accusing me of doing, I’d be a quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that.”
The trial is the first of three Sheeran could face from lawsuits over similarities between the two hits.
Sheeran is expected to testify again later in the trial as part of the defence case.
If the jury finds Sheeran liable for copyright infringement, the trial will enter a second phase to determine how much he and his labels owe in damages. The first trial is expected to last about a week.
Ed Griffin died in 2003 and Marvin Gaye died in 1984.
