Robin Thicke Sues Marvin Gaye’s Family Over ‘Blurred Lines’

Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and Clifford Harris, Jr. are taking a preemptive strike against Marvin Gaye’s family in a lawsuit over their #1 hit single “Blurred Lines”.

On Thursday a lawsuit was filed in California’s federal court by the artists featured in the #1 single against Marvin Gaye’s family, who allege “Blurred Lines” sounds strikingly similar to Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up”. According to the lawsuit, “Gaye defendants are claiming ownership of an entire genre, as opposed to a specific work.”

According to a copy of the suit obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, “Plaintiffs, who have the utmost respect for and admiration of Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic and their musical legacies, reluctantly file this action in the face of multiple adverse claims from alleged successors in interest to those artists. Defendants continue to insist that plaintiffs’ massively successful composition, ‘Blurred Lines,’ copies ‘their’ compositions.”

Can Marvin Gaye own the Funkadelic genre?

“But there are no similarities between plaintiffs’ composition and those the claimants allege they own, other than commonplace musical elements,” the lawsuit adds. “Plaintiffs created a hit and did it without copying anyone else’s composition.”

While the songs may sound similar, “being reminiscent of a ‘sound’ is not copyright infringement. The intent in producing ‘Blurred Lines’ was to evoke an era,” a New York Times critic stated.

Do you think the songs sound similar?  Do you think there is sufficient evidence for copyright infringement?  Give us your thoughts…