Robin Thicke, Pharrell Lose ‘Blurred Lines’ Copyright Case

The lines are no longer blurred. A jury has found that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams infringed on Marvin Gaye’s 1977 song “Got to Give It Up,” and must pay nearly $7.4 million.
After two weeks in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the eight jurors reached a verdict in the “Blurred Lines” copyright case, determining that the infringement was not willful, but also not innocent.
The jury awarded the Gaye family $4 million in damages, with profits of more than $1.6 million from Williams and more that $1.76 million from Thicke. T.I., who is also featured on the No. 1 hit, was cleared of any wrongdoing.


During the trial, it was revealed that “Blurred Lines” sales exceeded $16 million. Thicke and Williams earned over $5 million apiece, and T.I. netted more than $700,000.
The jury was shown interviews of Thicke and Williams saying they were inspired by Marvin Gaye and wanted to channel “Got to Give It Up.”
On the stand, Thicke claimed that he was high on vodka and Vicodin during the interviews, while Williams testified that any similarities were not pre-conceived.