Ed Sheeran has appeared in court at the start of a copyright lawsuit over his track Thinking Out Loud.

The Framlingham-based singer has been accused of taking key parts from Marvin Gaye's soul classic Let's Get It On for his 2014 hit.

The case is being brought by investment banker David Pullman and Structured Asset Sales (SAS), which acquired a portion of the estate of Let’s Get It On co-writer Ed Townsend.

At the beginning of the trial in New York, Sheeran said he was adamant that he had come up with the song himself.

In response to video played in the courtroom, which showed the musician segueing on stage between the two songs, Sheeran noted it was very common for musicians to weave other artists’ songs into their live shows.

A lawyer for Townsend’s heirs, Ben Crump, had told jurors that the merging of the two songs was tantamount to “a confession”.

“We have a smoking gun,” he said of the concert footage showing Sheeran flipping between the two songs.

Mr Crump said the case was about “giving credit where credit is due”.

Sheeran looked on as his lawyer, Ilene Farkas, insisted that Sheeran and a co-writer, Amy Wadge, wrote their song independently and did not steal from Townsend and Gaye.

She said they “created this heartfelt song without copying Let’s Get It On.

The chord progression and basic building blocks in Sheeran’s song are frequently used, and did not appear first in Let’s Get It On, his lawyer said.

The trial in New York is expected to last up to two weeks.

It is the second copyright trial Sheeran has faced. 

Last year he won a row in the High Court over claims he ripped off parts of their 2015 track, Oh Why, by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue.