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Thicke n Pharrell lawyer confirms Blurred Lines appeal

By | Published on Thursday 16 July 2015

Robin Thicke

No surprises here. The legal rep for Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams has vowed to appeal the jury ruling that his clients ripped off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got To Give It Up’ for their song ‘Blurred Lines’, he having failed to persuade the judge overseeing the case to call a retrial.

As previously reported, earlier this week judge John Kronstadt ruled on various claims made by both sides after the big jury ruling back in March in the high profile ‘Blurred Lines’ plagiarism case.

He refused Thicke and Williams’ request for a retrial, but did cut the damages Williams must pay and denied the Gaye family an injunction that would ban future distribution of the ‘Lines’ track. Though the Gayes will get half of all song royalties from any future use of the hit, and the judge agreed that Universal Music and guest rapper TI should also be held liable for Thicke and (mainly) Williams’ infringement.

Howard King, repping the terrible twosome, confirmed that his clients would now appeal the ruling in the original case, re-affirming his viewpoint that the jury got it wrong, and that any similarities between ‘Blurred Lines’ and ‘Got To Give It Up’ were just genre-based.

Writes King: “Pharrell, Robin and TI independently created every note and lyric of ‘Blurred Lines’. We look forward to ultimately obtaining appellate confirmation that no one can own a genre or a groove and that composers can be free to be inspired by the works of those creators that came before them”.

The Gaye family’s legal man – while saying he was reviewing the decision to cut his clients’ damages – generally welcomed the latest ruling, which did generally favour his side more than the other, despite being a mixed bag judgement.

Richard Busch wrote in a statement: “Mr Thicke and Williams, and their legal team, among others, went on a public relations campaign after the jury’s verdict, criticising the verdict and saying the evidence did not support the finding of copyright infringement, and did not believe the decision on liability would therefore stand”.

But, he went on, “the judge who actually heard all of the evidence disagreed. I am thrilled for the Gaye family, and the thoughtful members of the jury, who had to listen to all of that while remaining silent”.



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