Robin Thicke and Pharrell Lose First Round of ‘Blurred Lines’ Case
Bad news for Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, who lost the first round of rulings in the 'Blurred Lines' case.
As you may recall, Thicke, Pharrell and T.I. are being sued by Marvin Gaye's family, who claim 'Blurred Lines' is a rip-off of the late singer's ‘Got to Give It Up.’ However, Robin and Pharrell reportedly submitted a court ruling stating that the 2013 track didn't borrow from Gaye's hit. The latter is the ruling making the news today.
According to the LA Times, U.S. District Court Judge John Kronstadt declared that Gaye’s family members "have made a sufficient showing that elements of 'Blurred Lines' may be substantially similar to protected, original elements of 'Got to Give It Up.'"
The judge reportedly based his ruling on "the similarity of various hooks in both songs, bass lines, keyboard parts, vocal lines and elements of both songs’ melodic and harmonic composition."
While this means that Gaye's family's lawsuit can proceed, it appears that Pharrell and Robin are maintaining that 'Blurred Lines' is not a rip-off.
“There are no similarities between plaintiffs' composition and those the claimants allege they own, other than commonplace musical elements," representatives for Thicke and Williams stated in September (quote via the LA Times). “Plaintiffs created a hit and did it without copying anyone else's composition.”
The trial date is set for Feb. 10, 2015.