Woman accusing Ed Sheeran of copyright collapses in court and is stretchered out

27 April 2023 , 09:50

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Woman accusing Ed Sheeran of copyright collapses in court and is stretchered out

The woman accusing Ed Sheeran of allegedly copying Marvin Gaye's iconic track Let's Get It On has reportedly collapsed during the high profile New York copyright trial.

The British star, 32, is being sued by the heirs of Ed Townsend, who was the songwriter who originally wrote the popular 1973 track crooned by Marvin Gaye.

But Kathryn Townsend Griffin, one of the heirs suing the singer, caused chaos in the court house when she collapsed on day three of the trial.

Stretchered out of Manhattan Federal Court in New York, Kathryn was helped up by several people, but ended up needing to be stretchered out of the court house.

One of the heirs of Ed Townsend collapsed during the third day of the court case (Edna Leshowitz/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)

Reports say that she received medical attention during court proceedings, which then led to her being carried out.

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It is also reported that Kathryn's lawyer did not disclose the reason that she collapsed, but said that she had a pre-existing medical condition.

Kathryn and the other heirs suing Ed, claim that his 2014 hit Thinking Out Loud, copied Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On.

Paramedics appeared to be carrying the woman out of the court house (Edna Leshowitz/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)

They believe that parts of the romantic number one hit by Ed copies harmonic progressions and melodic and rhythmic elements without permission.

Ed has strenuously denied the claims, with him taking to the stand on Tuesday (April 25) to answer questions.

According to People, Ed said: "It is my belief that most pop songs are built on building blocks that have been freely available for 100s of years."

Kathryn, who is the lady who collapsed, can be seen in the middle (Getty Images)

The ongoing copyright case in New York follows on from last year when the singer was embroiled in another copyright claim.

Last year saw the hitmaker get awarded more than £900,000 in legal costs after he was accused of ripping off a song in his Shape Of You hit.

Last March saw Ed and his Shape Of You co-writers - Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon - face the copyright accusations.

Ed Sheeran is being accused of lifting parts of Marvin Gaye's track Let's Get It On (Getty Images)

They were accused of ripping off a track by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue, which was released back in 2015.

Ed denied the allegations and said he "always tried to be completely fair" when it comes to crediting collaborators.

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After the trial, which took place in London, Mr Justice Zacaroli said Ed "neither deliberately nor subconsciously" copied a phrase for his Shape Of You Track and made a verdict in favour of Ed and his co-songwriters.

Ed's current copyright trial, which is taking place in New York City, is expected to last one week.

Mollie Quirk