You may, like me and hundreds of others, have had the “Blurred Lines” verses: “I know you want it, You’re a good girl, You’re far from plastic, Talk about getting blasted, I hate these blurred lines,” stuck in your head. And, who could forget the new word “twerk” with Robin Thicke’s performance with Miley Cyrus at the award show.
This song is at the heart of a lawsuit brought by Robin Thicke and songwriter Pharrell Williams against Marvin Gaye’s children. Pharrell and Thicke wanted a court to declare that they had not infringed on the Gaye children’s copyright for the written music. The jury disagreed, returning a verdict awarding Gaye’s children $7.36 million in damages based on their rights in “Got to Give it Up.”
The Gaye children have filed an injunction to prevent future sales unless they attribute the writing to their father and provide them with compensation. In turn, Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke want to file post-trial motions and possible appeals. The jury declined, however, to find Thicke and his ex-wife had infringed on the Gaye’s children’s copyright with their song “After the Dance.”
Only time will tell if Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams can twerk their way out of the jury’s copyright infringement ruling.