‘If the jury had decided this matter the other way, we might as well say goodbye to the creative freedom of songwriters’, said Ed Sheeran|Ronald Woan|CC BY-NC 2.0

A Manhattan jury on Thursday decided that singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is not liable in the copyright infringement case alleging he copied Marvin Gaye’s music.

It deliberated for around three hours before the unanimous decision.

Sheeran, 32, hugged his lawyers, wife and co-writer of the “Thinking Out Loud” song Amy Wadge once the verdict was read. “I feel like the truth was heard and the truth was believed,” he told People magazine.

In his statement outside the courthouse, Sheeran heaved a sigh of relief by reading out, “If the jury had decided this matter the other way, we might as well say goodbye to the creative freedom of songwriters.”

Sheeran was sued for $100 million in 2017 alleging he plagiarized from Gaye’s 1973 classic “Let’s Get It On” for his Grammy-winning “Thinking Out Loud” song.