Marvin Gaye family seeks to stop ‘Blurred Lines’

LOS ANGELES, USA – The family of Motown legend Marvin Gaye has asked a court to block further sales of smash hit “Blurred Lines” after a jury concluded that the song was plagiarized. 

Gaye’s estate on March 10 was awarded more than $7 million after convincing a jury that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’ “Blurred Lines,” the biggest hit of 2013, plagiarized the late singer’s 1977 track “Got to Give It Up.” 

In a request for an injunction, the Gaye family asked a federal court in Los Angeles to halt all distribution of “Blurred Lines” and to bar Thicke and Williams from performing it in light of the landmark decision. 

“A permanent injunction is justified because there is continued infringement of ‘Got to Give It Up,'” said the motion submitted Tuesday, March 17.

“The jury’s award only applies to past sales of the infringing work and does not provide the Gayes a percentage of future sales and profit.” 

The family said that it was not seeking to kill the song permanently but rather to negotiate terms for Gaye to share credit and revenue. 

The family rejected arguments that the verdict  – which looked, due to copyright law, at the sheet music for the two songs – did not apply to the recording, saying that without the song, all label Interscope “would be distributing is a picture of Robin Thicke and a CD containing silence.” 

Thicke himself in media interviews before the court case had said that he had been inspired by Gaye. 

But the court decision has triggered an angry response from many songwriters, who note that there were major differences between the two songs, including the melodies and lyrics. 

Williams, a popular songwriter who had another smash hit with “Happy,” said in an interview published Thursday, March 19 that all creative people had inspirations. 

“The verdict handicaps any creator out there who is making something that might be inspired by something else,” Williams told the Financial Times. 

“If we lose our freedom to be inspired, we’re going to look up one day and the entertainment industry as we know it will be frozen in litigation.” – Rappler.com