Robin Thicke tried to get a jury to tell the world that he and his songwriting partners did not rip off Marvin Gaye when they recorded “Blurred Lines.”
The jury told Robin Thicke to pay up.
Recently a jury awarded Marvin Gaye’s children nearly $7.4 million when they remained unconvinced that Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams, and T.I. had not ripped off Marvin Gaye’s song “Got To Give It Up.”
After the jury verdict was announced Marvin Gaye’s daughter said, “I feel free. Free from… Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke’s chains and what they tried to keep on us and the lies that were told.”
The big mistake that Robin Thicke and his partners made was in preemptively suing Marvin Gaye’s family when they hear rumblings that the family was onto the ripoff.
“They fought this fight despite every odd being against them,” Gaye family’s attorney Richard Busch said of his clients when the verdict was announced. “We didn’t start this fight. They sued us, taking a declaration of non-infringement. They started this war and we just finished it.”
“Mr. Williams and his legal team portrayed this as the copying of a genre or a groove or a feel,” Busch says. “That was not the case, as the jury found. It was the copy of a musical composition – melody and harmony and bass line and keyboard and other things.”
As for Robin Thicke, Pharrell, and T.I., they issued a joint statement on the heels of the verdict.
“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,” Williams, Thicke and T.I. said in a joint statement. “‘Blurred Lines’ was created from the heart and minds of Pharrell, Robin and T.I. and not taken from anyone or anywhere else. We are reviewing the decision, considering our options and you will hear more from us soon about this matter.”