A still of Emily Ratajkowski and Robin Thicke in the “Blurred Lines” video. Courtesy of MTV.
Summary: Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams have appealed the verdict in the “Blurred Lines” legal battle.
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams didn’t want to lose their “Blurred Lines” lawsuit to Marvin Gaye’s family, and now they’re fighting back. The musicians are set to appeal March 2015’s ruling that they share 50% of the royalties with Gaye’s family because they allegedly plagiarized their massive hit.
- Related: Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams Lose Marvin Gaye Copyright Lawsuit to the Tune of $7.4 Million
“Blurred Lines” was a smash in 2013 that faced criticism for its perceived rape-culture lyrics such as “You know you want it.” The controversy seemed to only add to the song’s success, but the creators faced a bigger setback when Gaye’s family claimed that “Blurred Lines” sounded similar to Gaye’s hit “Got to Give It Up.”
The Gaye family sued Thicke and Williams, and after a two year legal battle, a jury awarded the Gayes $7.4 million and a share of the song’s royalties in March of of 2015. Months later, the Gayes asked the musicians to pay their $3.4 million legal fees.
On August 24th, Thicke, Williams, and another artist involved with the song, rapper T.I., filed a lawsuit in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the verdict.
The Standard reported that the appeal stated the following:
“What happened was a cascade of legal errors, warranting this court’s reversal or new trial.
“At summary judgment, the district court entertained expert testimony by musicologists for the Gayes who based their opinions entirely on the sound recording, not the deposit copy.
“The court correctly filtered out non-deposit-copy and generic musical features from their testimony, but then erroneously failed to compare what remained to ‘Blurred Lines.’”
The artists’ lawsuit further states that the Gaye verdict hindered the creative process by which artists draw inspiration from other artists.
Do you think the “Blurred Lines” creators can win their appeal? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: The Standard