A US jury on Tuesday ordered pop stars Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams to pay more than US$7 million in damages to Marvin Gaye’s family, ruling the pair copied his music in writing their 2013 mega-hit Blurred Lines.
The eight-member California panel, which had been deliberating since last week, found that the pop stars lifted parts of Gaye’s 1977 hit Got to Give It Up.
“I’m so filled with emotion that it’s hard to get the words out,” Gaye’s daughter, Nona, said, hailing the “miracle” verdict.
Photo: Reuters
The family took legal action “because he [Marvin] can’t do it for himself,” she added.
Gaye family lawyer Richard Busch said he plans to seek an injunction blocking future sales of Blurred Lines, which was a worldwide hit.
A spokeswoman for Williams said: “While we respect the judicial process, we are extremely disappointed in the ruling made today, which sets a horrible precedent for music and creativity going forward.”
“Pharrell created Blurred Lines from his heart, mind and soul, and the song was not taken from anyone or anywhere else. We are reviewing the decision and considering our options,” she added in a statement.
The Gaye heirs had sought a portion of the nearly US$16.5 million in profits that the hit party song has reaped since its release two years ago.
The jury awarded about US$4 million in damages, plus roughly US$3.4 million in profits.
Evidence presented in court suggested that Thicke and Williams each earned more than US$5 million from the success of the record.
Blurred Lines was the biggest-selling song of 2013 in the US, selling a total of 6.5 million copies, according to Billboard.
During the two-week trial, Williams said he understood why fans connected the two songs, but said: “Soul music sounds like soul music... I must’ve been channeling that late ’70s feeling.”
The Gaye estate had said that Blurred Lines copied elements of the 1970s track.
The two sides brought in music experts who dissected the structures of the two songs to debate the merits of the claim.
At the time the Gaye song was copyrighted, only written music — not sound recordings — could be registered with the copyright office.
Although jurors saw the Blurred Lines video and heard the song, they were told to only consider the chords, melodies and lyrics of the songs, rather than production elements.
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