The Supreme Court recently denied a motion filed by the ‘Blurred Lines’ Singer Robin Thicke, to reject the allegations of plagiarism on the song by Marvin Gaye’s family. The Gaye estate claims that the hot single copied components of the late Marvin Gaye’s 1976 ‘Got to Give It Up’. The presiding Judge over the case said, “Genuine issues of material fact are present as to the extrinsic similarity of the works. The intrinsic similarity of the works is a jury question“.
In court Robin Thicke refuted the allegations, by claiming he embellished his interest in the 1976 tune because he liked being dubbed the “White Marvin Gaye”. In addition to his back tracking, Thicke also pawned all the responsibility of the alleged plagiarism off on the song’s writer Pharrell Williams. Both parities presented the court with sophisticated analytical musical experts, that to no surprise found evidence to support both cases.
Judge John Kronstadt of the US District Court for Central California said, “Defendants have made a sufficient showing that elements of Blurred Lines may be substantially similar to protected, original elements of Got to Give It Up“.
It will be interesting to see how this case develops. With an impeding divorce and a high profile court case under way it seems Mr. Thicke is steering clear of Hollywood’s spot light. Check out “Blurred Lines’ and “Got to Give It Up’ below and tell us if you think the Gaye’s have a case.
http://youtu.be/kdnyrnLXFhg
