Robin Thicke, Pharrell And T.I. Lose To Marvin Gaye’s Family In “Blurred Lines” Trial

The “Blurred Lines” verdict is in. A Jury has ruled that Robin Thicke’s 2013 hit single “Blurred Lines” did in fact infringe on the copyright held by Marvin Gaye for his song “Got To Give It Up” from 1977. Therefore Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and T.I. are herby ordered to pay the Gaye family 7.3 million dollars in back publishing royalties. This number comes after the court case revealed that Robin, Pharrell and T.I. walked away with over 16 million dollars profit to split between the three of them in different ways.

The ruling came after Robin and Pharrell appeared in court defending their composition, while both also previously  sighted Marvin Gaye as an influence for the song in many high profile interviews. In that testimony both Williams and Thicke said that their song was meant to inspire an “era” or a “feel” from Marvin Gaye’s time, but that “Blurred Lines” did not infringe on “Got To Give It Up.”  However it was in that same testimony that Robin Thicke also admitted to being intoxicated on drugs and alcohol while giving Gaye credit in those various interviews, and even when writing the song with Pharrell. Therefore even though he was credited as a co-writer of the song, he admitted that he did not actually write the song with Pharrell, because he was too drunk and high at the time.

The ruling for Thicke and company to pay the Gaye family 7.3 million dollars sounds steep considering Thicke’s 16 million dollar pay day for the song, however Thicke actually was at risk of losing even more money. This verdict came after the Gaye family was seeking over 25 million dollars in damages. The official writing credits for the song have also been changed. They now read, Robin Thicke/Pharrell Williams/Clifford Harris Jr./Marvin Gaye. “Blurred Lines,” was  nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammys, and, hit number one on the Billboard single charts for a record 10 consecutive weeks.  It was the best selling single of 2013.

Robin Thicke Featuring Pharrell Williams And T.I.

“Blurred Lines” (Explicit)

From Blurred Lines

Star Trak/Interscope Records

Marvin Gaye

“Got To Give It Up”

Tamla/Motown Records