Marvin Gaye Family Opposes Robin Thicke and Pharrell’s Appeal to Overturn ‘Blurred Lines’ Verdict
The “Blurred Lines” case is still an ongoing legal matter after Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams was ordered to pay the Marvin Gaye family $7.4 million in copyright damages back in 2015.
In this latest round, the Gaye family submitted a motion to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to block Thicke and Pharrell from appealing the verdict in the “Blurred Lines” trial, reports The Hollywood Reporter. In an appellate brief submitted to the Court of Appeals, the Gaye family feels that the verdict was just and would like the opportunity to introduce as evidence the sound recording of Gaye’s song “Got to Give It Up.”
Thicke and Pharrell filed an appeal back in August claiming that the judge in the case misread the law because he allowed a comparison of the recordings of the two songs, rather than just the sheet music. Their lawyers argued that if the judge simply considered the sheet music, then the case would not have gone to trial.
During the trial, Gaye's family had musicologists explaining the similarities between Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" and Thicke's "Blurred Lines." A jury came back with a $7.4 million verdict, which was later reduced to $5.3 million plus additional profits by a judge.
"A music copyright is not 'thin,'" states the Gaye Family's brief, adding, "This case stands for no more and no less than the fact that the original work of an artist may not be appropriated without consent and fair compensation."
Clearly, this is going to be a long and very complicated legal fight. But the end result will certainly affect how producers and artists create music in the studio. To be continued...
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