Hit for £5m! The chart toppers who stole Marvin Gaye song
THE children of Marvin Gaye have been awarded nearly £5million in damages after a jury ruled that chart-topper Blurred Lines copied parts of their father’s 1977 hit Got To Give It Up.
The late singer’s family now want the song – a number one in 20 countries including Britain – removed from sale until they work out how to split its future earnings.
The single was written and performed by 11-time Grammy award winner Pharrell Williams and singer Robin Thicke.
Gaye’s daughter Nona, 40, wept and hugged her attorney as the verdict to award $7.4million (£4.95million) was announced.
Speaking afterwards she said: ‘I feel free. Free from...Pharrell Wil- liams and Robin Thicke’s chains and what they tried to keep on us and the lies that were told.’
The furore began in March 2013 when Blurred Lines was released. It courted controversy after many dubbed its lyrics aggressive and sexist. One version of the music video was criticised for showing topless models cavorting with the male performers.
After hearing the song, Gaye’s family claimed it had copied parts of his classic track Got To Give It Up. Gaye’s children Nona, Frankie, 39, and Marvin Gaye III, 48, inherited the copyright to their father’s work after he was shot in 1984.
Williams and Thicke attempted to prevent a court case by filing a preemptive lawsuit to protect their song, which is said to have made more than £10.8million in profits, but the suit was thrown out.
During a week-long trial in Los Angeles, Williams, 41, agreed he was ‘channelling…that late-70s feeling’ when he co-wrote the song. But he insisted Gaye’s classic was not on his mind at the time, adding: ‘As a creator, you get a kick out of bringing new things into the ether.’
In court, Thicke, 38, played a piano medley of Blurred Lines, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson and the Beatles to show how one song could sound like another. But a musicologist called on by the Gaye family concluded there were eight similar elements between the two songs, including the bass, keyboard parts and percussion track.
Gaye’s former wife Janis told the New York Times: ‘I’m really grateful. I hope people understand that this means Marvin deserves credit for what he did back in 1977.’
Rapper TI also contributed to the song but neither he nor the record company were found to have infringed copyright.