In 2015, a Los Angeles jury ruled that Pharrell Williams's and Robin Thicke's 2013 hit "Blurred Lines" had copied Marvin Gaye's 1977 hit song "Got to Give it Up." The final judgment gave Gaye's family members $5.3 million and 50% of the song's royalties for copyright infringement, one of the largest damages awards in music-copyright history. But, as was reported by Rolling Stone, "Judging by the sheet music alone [the songs] are not remarkably similar. [I]n this case, studio arrangements were factored in. The strident walking bass, background chatter, even the cowbell — all were taken into account. The court ruled that 'Blurred Lines' aped the vibe of Gaye's song, which is something that had previously been beyond copyright protection. Legal experts and artists alike fear that this sets a dangerous precedent." Rolling Stone http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/songs-on-trial-10-landmark-music-copyright-cases-20160608 The case has blurred the lines between copyrightable elements - such as lyrics and melody, and non-copyrightable elements - such as the 'mood' of a song.
The verdict has been appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Public Knowledge, an organization that promotes freedom of expression and access to creative works, has filed an amicus curiae brief arguing that "Musical composers depend on their ability to borrow from and reuse past works. All genres of music exhibit creative borrowing, from classical symphonies to hip-hop chart toppers." https://www.publicknowledge.org/documents/amicus-brief-in-blurred-lines-case
In addition, 212 artists and musicians (including members of Train, Linkin Park, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Black Crowes, Fall Out Boy, Tears for Fears and John Oates of Hall & Oates) have backed Thicke and Williams' appeal in a separate amicus brief. They argue that the verdict "threatens to punish songwriters for creating new music that isinspired by prior works" and that "the judgment is certain to stifle creativity and impede the creative process" because "[a]ll music shares inspiration from prior musical works, especially within a particular musical genre."
"This case is unique, in that the two works at issue, Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up" and Appellants' "Blurred Lines," do not have similar melodies; the two songs do not even share a single melodic phrase. In fact, the two works do not have a sequence of even two chords played in the same order and for the same duration. They have entirely different song structures (meaning how and where the verse, chorus, etc. are placed in the song), and do not share any lyrics." They make the plea that the law "should provide clearer rules so that songwriters can know when the line is crossed, or at least where the line is." Read their amicus brief by clicking HERE.
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