Pharrell, Thicke lifted for ‘Blurred Lines,’ jury finds in $7.4M verdict

Singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams have been ordered to pay the children of Marvin Gaye a total of $7.4 million after a jury determined that the contemporary duo ripped off the soul legend's music for their hit song "Blurred Lines."

In a highly anticipated verdict, jurors sided with Gaye family lawyers who argued that parts of Gaye’s 1977 song "Got to Give It Up" had been lifted for “Blurred Lines,” a 2013 hit that had previously courted controversy for perceived anti-women lyrics. Both Thicke and Williams had denied stealing any of Gaye’s music.

Several other parties sued by Gaye's estate, the rapper T.I. and various record and music companies, were cleared of copyright infringement on "Got to Give It Up."

But $3.4 million in profits that Thicke and Williams were found to have derived from the infringement would form part of the money ordered to the family of Gaye, who died in 1985.

As the verdict was being read, Marvin Gaye’s daughter, Nona Gaye, wept, and her attorney, Richard Busch, hugged her.

Speaking after the verdict, Nona Gaye said, "Right now, I feel free. Free from ... Pharrell Williams' and Robin Thicke's chains and what they tried to keep on us and the lies that were told."

During the trial, the Gayes' lawyer branded Williams and Thicke liars who went beyond trying to emulate the sound of Gaye's late-1970s music and copied "Got to Give It Up" outright.

"They fought this fight despite every odd being against them," Busch said of the Gaye family outside court.

Thicke told jurors he didn't write "Blurred Lines," which Williams testified he crafted in about an hour in mid-2012.

Williams told jurors that Gaye's music was part of the soundtrack of his youth. But the seven-time Grammy winner said he didn't use any of it to create "Blurred Lines."

After the verdict, Williams, Thicke and T.I. said in statement "While we respect the judicial process, we are extremely disappointed in the ruling made today, which sets a horrible precedent for music and creativity going forward. "Blurred Lines" was created from the heart and minds of Pharrell, Robin and T.I. and not taken from anyone or anywhere else."  

They also said they were "considering our options" on the verdict which may be tied up in appeals for years.

"Blurred Lines" has sold more than 7.3 million copies in the U.S. alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures. It earned a Grammy nomination and netted Williams and Thicke millions of dollars.

The case was a struggle between two of music's biggest names. Williams has sold more than 100 million records worldwide during his career as a singer-producer, and Gaye performed still popular hits such as "Sexual Healing" and "Let’s Get It On."

During closing arguments, Busch accused Thicke and Williams of lying about how the song was created.

Howard King, the lead attorney for Williams and Thicke, told the panel that a verdict in favor of the Gaye family would have a chilling effect on musicians who were trying to recreate a genre or homage to another artist's sound.

King denied there were any substantial similarities between "Blurred Lines" and the sheet music Gaye submitted to obtain copyright protection.

The trial focused on detailed analyses of chords and notes in both "Blurred Lines" and "Got to Give It Up."

Jurors repeatedly heard the upbeat song "Blurred Lines" and saw snippets of its music video, but Gaye's music was represented during the trial in a less polished form. Jurors did not hear "Got to Give It Up" as Gaye recorded it but rather a version based solely on sheet music submitted to gain copyright protection.

That version lacked many of the elements — including Gaye's voice — that helped make the song a hit in 1977. Busch derisively called the version used in court a "Frankenstein-like monster" that didn't accurately represent Gaye's work.

An expert for the Gaye family said there were eight distinct elements from "Got to Give It Up" that were used in "Blurred Lines," but an expert for Williams and Thicke denied those similarities existed.

Gaye died in April 1984, leaving his children the copyrights to his music.

Al Jazeera and wire services