NPR.

I've been really driving.

Ah yeah, it's the indicator for planet money.

I'm Adrian Ma.

And I'm Whalen Wong.

And no, this is not the indicator after dark.

We are listening to Let's Get It On because this song is at the center of a big trial

happening next week where the court has to decide what is the difference between musical

inspiration and intellectual theft.

Let's get it on was performed by Marvin Gaye as everybody knows, but it was also co-written

by a guy named Ed Townsend.

And Ed Townsend's heirs who have the rights to the song, they've accused another musician

of writing a song that copies Let's Get It On.

It's thinking out loud by the British musician Ed Sheeran.

Oh Ed V. Ed.

That's right, we got a case of two Ed's here, one which is trying to get a hundred million

dollars from the other, but this case is about a lot more than money.

Today on the show, we'll talk with a music copyright expert who explains why this case

should matter to musicians and music lovers everywhere and why the outcomes of these

disputes are so hard to predict.

When she was just a kid, Jennifer Jenkins thought she might grow up to be a musician.

I had dreams of being a rock star.

...