Ed Sheeran is being sued for allegedly copying parts of Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On in his hit song Thinking Out Loud.

The family of Ed Townsend, who composed and co-wrote the 1973 classic, filed an infringement lawsuit in New York on Tuesday.

Court papers were submitted by Kathryn Townsend Griffin to the New York Southern District Court.

The papers read: "The Defendants copied the heart of "Let's" and repeated it continuously throughout "Thinking."

"The melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic compositions of "Thinking" are substantially and/or strikingly similar to the drum composition of "Let's."

The lawsuit also says Sheeran continued to perform the song even after he was notified of the copyright infringement claim last year.

Townsend's family is demanding a jury trial and compensation for damages.

Sheeran's track was the first to spend a full year in the UK top 40 and has had more than 1 billion views on YouTube. Thinking Out Loud won song of the year at the 2016 Grammy awards and was the first ever song to hit 500 million streams on Spotify.

The suit also names Thinking Out Loud co-writer Amy Wadge, producer Jake Gosling, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Atlantic Records, Warner Bros and others

This isn't the first time Sheeran has been hit by accusations of copyright infringement. He is already being sued for $20m (£13.8m) over his single Photograph, which musicians Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard say copies their song Amazing.

ITV News approached Sheeran's representatives for comment, but have not yet had a response.