New York, May 5 (IANS): Ed Sheeran was acquitted on Thursday (US East Coast Time) in the Manhattan federal court in New York City on a charge that he plagiarised the Marvin Gaye '70s hit 'Lets Get It On' for his own 'Thinking Out Loud', reports 'Variety'.

The verdict that found him not liable for copyright infringement came after just a few hours of deliberation, adda 'Variety'. The jury had officially begun deliberations after closing arguments on Wednesday evening, although, as it was after 5 p.m., the judge held them just long enough for a get-acquainted session before sending them home for the night.

U.S. District Court Judge Louis Stanton had sent the Manhattan jury into deliberations with a pointed admonition: "Independent creation is a complete defence, no matter how similar that song is."

Stanton's instructions, according to 'Variety', left a high bar in the jury's minds for just how much evidence the plaintiffs' attorneys needed to prove that Sheeran and his co-writer actually copied Gaye's 1973 song 'Let's Get It On' when they wrote the 2014 pop hit 'Thinking Out Loud'.

Stanton told jurors, 'Variety' adds, that the lawyers for the heirs of Gaye's co-writer, Ed Townsend, needed to "prove by a preponderance of the evidence ... that Sheeran actually copied and wrongfully copied 'Let's Get It On'" -- as opposed to the coincidental, negligible similarities argued by Sheeran's attorneys.