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Desi 101: What Exactly Is Desi Music? Let’s clear something up: Desi isn’t a genre. It’s a cultural identity. “Desi” is how South Asians across the diaspor...
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Jury Rules Against Robin Thicke & Pharrell in ‘Blurred Lines’ Trial
A jury has ruled that Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams, and T.I.’s hit “Blurred Lines” copied Marvin Gaye’s 1977 song “Got to Give It Up.” Thicke and Williams will pay the Gaye family a total of $7.4 million in copyright damages.
The ruling came after a two-week trial that included testimony from Thicke’s ex-wife Paula Patton and an in-court piano performance by Thicke himself. It was revealed that Thicke and Williams each made over $5 million on “Blurred Lines.”
According to Billboard, “To demonstrate copyright infringement, Busch instead leaned on the musicologists, who testified of similarities in signature phrases, hook, keyboard-bass interplay, lyrics and theme of the songs. Although ‘Blurred Lines’ was the primary ticket, the Gaye family also attempted to prove that Thicke’s ‘Love After War’ was an infringement of Gaye’s ‘After the Dance’ too.”
Billboard also reported that during his closing statement, Thicke and Williams’ attorney Howard King warned the jury about artistic freedom. “The wrong decision here will stifle musicians and the record companies that finance them [in signifying] that you cannot honor a genre, a style or a groove,” he said. “This is more important than money. This affects the creativity of young musicians.”
Listen to “Blurred Lines” and “Got to Give It Up” below.
Related: Jimmy Fallon, Robin Thicke, & The Roots Perform “Blurred Lines” with Classroom Instruments
