Robin Thicke
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Lose ‘Blurred Lines’ Lawsuit
A California judge has ordered Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams to pay nearly $5 million in damages over similarities between “Blurred Lines” and Marvin Gaye‘s “Got To Give It Up.”
In addition, Gaye’s estate will also receive 50 percent of future songwriting and publishing royalties from the 2013 hit.
The ruling ends a landmark five-year legal battle in which Gaye’s family alleged that the artists were guilty of copyright infringement. The pair filed for an appeal in 2015 after a jury ordered them to pay $7.4 million in damages, later reduced to $5.3 million.
Related: Watch N.O.R.E.’s ‘Uno Más’ Video Feat. Pharrell Williams
DJcity Premiere: Pitbull Drops New Song ‘Bad Man’ Ft. Robin Thicke, Joe Perry & Travis Barker
Following his performance at the Grammys on Monday, Pitbull has released his new single “Bad Man” featuring Robin Thicke, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, and Travis Barker. Pit closed out the awards with the rock-influenced song and his 2015 single, “El Taxi.”
Stream “Bad Man” below and download it on DJcity.
[djc url=http://www.djcity.com/digital/pitbull-bad-man—51461.htm]
Watch Robin Thicke and Pharrell’s ‘Blurred Lines’ Testimonies
Video has surfaced of Robin Thicke and Pharrell’s depositions in their lawsuit with the Marvin Gaye estate.
The exclusive footage, which was obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, comes months after a judge ruled that Thicke and Pharrell ripped off Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up.” The two artists were ordered to pay $5.4 million to Gaye’s estate, which they are now appealing.
Watch Thicke and Pharrell’s candid responses below.
Related: Jury Rules Against Robin Thicke & Pharrell in ‘Blurred Lines’ Trial
Laidback Luke Weighs in on ‘Blurred Lines’ Ruling
Last week’s ruling against Robin Thicke and Pharrell has proven to be one of the most controversial stories of the year in the music world. On one side, there are folks who support the court’s decision that “Blurred Lines” copies Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.” There are also people, many of which are artists and industry professionals, who believe the ruling sets a dangerous precedent and could stifle creativity.
One of the most high-profile artists to speak out is Laidback Luke. The Dutch heavyweight, who himself has been involved in copyright lawsuits, penned an op-ed for Billboard earlier this week about the ruling. Below are some of the main points he made in the candid piece.
He believes “Blurred Lines” is similar to “Got to Give It Up,” but he doesn’t think they’re the same.
“In the ‘Blurred Lines’ case, I can hear is a same type of groove and a similar sounding Rhodes organ that doesn’t even play the same notes. I’d even go so far to say that ‘Blurred Lines’ is just a similar style of track as ‘Got To Give It Up.’ Style as in genre.”
In terms of note progressions, he thinks creativity is limited.
“In dance music alone, there are at least 3,000 new tracks released every week. Surely almost anything you can think of has already been done? For instance, people think I jacked Tujamo’s ‘Boneless’ with my track ‘Bae,’ whereas I didn’t have it in mind at all while producing. Unless we somehow invent new notes, the progressions that we can make are not infinite. The notes themselves have never been copyrighted, so how many notes does it take to claim it as a copyrighted sample? Everyone will recognize the first 3 to 4 notes in ‘Get Ready For This’ before any vocal even drops in.”
He believes being influenced is inevitable.
“Being creative draws upon the collection of music in your head. It sits there and anything around you can influence you. Anything you heard in your past that made an impression on you will affect your style. I often find myself just being a collection of anything Daft Punk meets Timbaland meets the The Neptunes meets J Dilla, and that molded into a format that I can play out as a DJ. Being influenced seems inevitable, and there’s almost always something out there that sounds similar to what you’re making.”
He thinks the ruling poses a threat to new artists.
“The fact is, this very second some kid somewhere is taking my music, chopping it up, looking at it sideways, replaying it and then calling it his own. They are the future. If that stops, the music stops. However, a new standard has been set. Those ‘Blurred Lines’ suddenly became dangerously Thicke.”
Related: Jury Rules Against Robin Thicke & Pharrell in ‘Blurred Lines’ Trial
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
Robin Thicke & Pharrell Lose First Fight Against Marvin Gaye’s Family
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’ legal battle with Marvin Gaye’s family over “Blurred Lines” has escalated. According to Billboard, a California judge has ruled in favor of Gaye’s family and scheduled a trial for February 10, 2015.
The ruling states that Gaye’s family has made a sufficient showing that elements of Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” may be substantially similar to the soul singer’s 1977 classic, “Got to Give It Up.”
In September, Thicke and Williams sued Gaye’s family in an effort to prevent future legal action against them over the song. The preemptive move was in response to claims by Gaye’s family that “Blurred Lines” is a knock-off and threats of legal action.
Billboard writes:
“The judge points to genuine issues of material fact existing as to the substantial similarity of signature phrases, hooks, bass lines, keyboard chords, harmonic structures and vocal melodies of the two songs. The judge also writes that the Gaye family has offered sufficient evidence to create triable issues about whether their 11-note signature phrase, four-note hook, four-bar bass line, 16-bar harmonic structure and four-note vocal melody are protectable expressions.”
“Blurred Lines” was the best-selling digital single of 2013 and is currently the second best-selling digital single of all time, behind The Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling.” While copyright lawsuits in the music industry are common, this particular case could turn out to be one of the biggest trials ever over alleged song theft.
Do you think “Blurred Lines” is a knock-off of “Got to Give it Up”? Listen below:
Related: LMFAO Responds to Rick Ross Lawsuit
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