Remember 'Blurred Lines'? The hit single that was made in 2013 that featured Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke, and T.I.? Are you familiar with Marvin Gaye's 'Got To Give It Up'? Did you catch the similarities between the two? If you didn't, the Gaye family sure did and filed a copyright damage and infringement lawsuit, in which Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke lost the case and had to pay $7.3 million in reparations.
According to William's and Thicke's attorney, Howard King, the Gaye family demanded ownership over the song or else they were going to sue them. He states the lawsuit came about from that demand and was a response to the threat of ownership. Williams and Thicke offered a "generous six-figure offer" to avoid the lawsuit, but the offer was declined. During the trial, the family was unable to play the song due to it coming out in 1977, a year before Congress made changes to the copyright law. The jury based their decision off of elements presented to them such as the melody, harmony, and rhythm of the song. A California jury found the artists of 'Blurred Lines' guilty of copyright damages and infringement earlier on this week. The artists had to pay the family $7.3 million in reparations to the family.
The Gaye family's attorney, Robert Busch, is seeking to cut the sales that 'Blurred Lines' is still receiving until both parties can come to a conclusion on how to split the revenues of the song. A day after the verdict was released, Howard King stated the following:
"I feel like I've let songwriters around the world down by helping establish this horrible precedent that somebody can make a claim based upon a song that sounds the same, yet is materially different – and if they can find eight people who don't read music, they might win. Record labels are going to be far more reticent to put out new, good music that is similar to the style of other music for fear that they are gonna get a claim, including spurious claims. I mean, why wouldn't anybody bring a claim now?"
Like the great Marvin Gaye sung in 'What's Going On", "We don't need to escalate, you see, war is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate, you know we've got to find a way, to bring some lovin' here today, oh oh oh"
(Photo: Twitter)
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