When a music fan filmed and later uploaded Ed Sheeran performing a playful mashup of two songs at a live concert to YouTube, the clip led to a high-profile music copyright dispute — and FTI Consulting was engaged by Pryor Cashman to deliver the courtroom technology and presentations that helped the jurors evaluate differences in the music.
Following a six-day trial in May 2023, the jury determined that Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge’s song was independently created and did not infringe on the work of Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend. On June 16, 2025, the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upholding the original decision.
Ilene Farkas, who led Pryor Cashman LLP’s defense team, called FTI Consulting’s work “indispensable,” adding that such cases require that “jurors be presented with evidence they can see and hear, and FTI Consulting’s aural and visual demonstratives were critically important.”
The two songs in question were “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge and “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend. The estate of Ed Townsend sued Sheeran, Warner Music Group and Sony Music for copyright infringement. These cases are challenging as many songs share common building blocks, and demonstrating the differences between them on trial is difficult.
The FTI Consulting team delivered trial technology and illustrative graphics bolstering the defense’s case in the trial.
FTI Consulting trial and arbitration support experts evaluated courtroom technology, ensuring that audio and interactive visual effects were optimized and strategically placed throughout the trial to help the jury understand and evaluate differences in the music.
Experts worked with a musicologist to highlight the differences between the two works through on-screen demonstrations, displays of numerous examples of prior songs with the same chord progression and a live keyboard performance alongside the witness stand.
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