The nsolidated appeals stemmed om a jury's fdg that Pharrell Williams, Rob Thicke, and Clifford Harris, Jr.'s song "Blurred L," the world's btsellg sgle 2013, ged Frankie Christian Gaye, Nona Marvisa Gaye, and ...
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WILLIAMS V. GAYE
’s song “Blurred L, ” the world’s btsellg sgle 2013, ged Frankie Christian Gaye, Nona Marvisa Gaye, and Marv Gaye III’s pyright Marv Gaye’s 1977 h song “Got To Give It Up. The panel held that “Got To Give It Up” was entled to broad pyright protectn bee mil posns were not nfed to a narrow range of exprsn; the panel accepted, whout cidg, the mers of the district urt’s lg that the spe of fendants’ pyright was limed, unr the Copyright Act of 1909, to the sheet mic posed wh the Copyright Office, and did not extend to sound rerdgs; the district urt’s orr nyg summary judgment was not reviewable after a full trial on the mers; the district urt did not err nyg a new trial; the district urt did not abe s discretn admtg portns of expert ttimony; the verdict was not agast the clear weight of the evince; the awards of actual damag and profs and the district urt’s nng royalty were proper; the district urt erred overturng the jury’s general verdict favor of Harris and the Interspe Parti; the district urt did not abe s discretn nyg the Gay’ motn for attorney’s fe; and the district urt did not abe s discretn apportng sts among the parti. The nsolidated appeals stemmed om a jury's fdg that Pharrell Williams, Rob Thicke, and Clifford Harris, Jr.'s song "Blurred L," the world's btsellg sgle 2013, ged Frankie Christian Gaye, Nona Marvisa Gaye, and Marv Gaye III's pyright Marv Gaye's 1977 h song "Got To Give It Up." The Nth Circu affirmed part and reversed part the district urt's judgment.
The panel held that "Got To Give It Up" was entled to broad pyright protectn bee mil posns were not nfed to a narrow range of exprsn; the panel accepted, whout cidg, the mers of the district urt's lg that the spe of fendants' pyright was limed, unr the Copyright Act of 1909, to the sheet mic posed wh the Copyright Office, and did not extend to sound rerdgs; the district urt's orr nyg summary judgment was not reviewable after a full trial on the mers; the district urt did not err nyg a new trial; the district urt did not abe s discretn admtg portns of expert ttimony; the verdict was not agast the clear weight of the evince; the awards of actual damag and profs and the district urt's nng royalty were proper; the district urt erred overturng the jury's general verdict favor of Harris and the Interspe Parti; the district urt did not abe s discretn nyg the Gay' motn for attorney's fe; and the district urt did not abe s discretn apportng sts among the parti. The panel affirmed part and reversed part the district urt’s judgment after a jury trial, lg that platiffs’ song “Blurred L” ged fendants’ pyright Marv Gaye’s song “Got To Give It Up.” The panel held that “Got To Give It Up” was entled to broad pyright protectn bee mil posns are not nfed to a narrow range of exprsn. GAYE PHARRELL WILLIAMS, an dividual; CLIFFORD HARRIS, JR., an dividual; ROBIN THICKE, an dividual, DBA I Like’em Thicke Mic, Platiffs-Counter-DefendantsAppelle, and MORE WATER FROM NAZARETH PUBLISHING, INC.; STAR TRAK ENTERTAINMENT; INTERSCOPE RECORDS; UMG RECORDINGS, INC.; UNIVERSAL MUSIC DISTRIBUTION, Counter-Defendants-Appelle, v.
GAYE PHARRELL WILLIAMS, an dividual; ROBIN THICKE, an dividual, DBA I Like’em Thicke Mic; CLIFFORD HARRIS, JR., an dividual, Platiffs-Counter-DefendantsAppelle, and MORE WATER FROM NAZARETH PUBLISHING, INC.; STAR TRAK ENTERTAINMENT; INTERSCOPE RECORDS; UMG RECORDINGS, INC.; UNIVERSAL MUSIC DISTRIBUTION, Counter-Defendants-Appelle. Smh, Jr.; Dissent by Judge Nguyen SUMMARY * Copyright The panel affirmed part and reversed part the district urt’s judgment after a jury trial, lg that platiffs’ song “Blurred L” ged fendants’ pyright Marv Gaye’s song “Got To Give It Up.” The panel held that “Got To Give It Up” was entled to broad pyright protectn bee mil posns are not nfed to a narrow range of exprsn. SMITH, Circu Judge: After a seven-day trial and two days of liberatn, a jury found that Pharrell Williams, Rob Thicke, and Clifford Harris, Jr.’s song “Blurred L,” the world’s btsellg sgle 2013, ged Frankie Christian Gaye, Nona Marvisa Gaye, and Marv Gaye III’s pyright Marv Gaye’s 1977 h song “Got To Give It Up.” Three nsolidated appeals followed.
WILLIAMS V. GAYE RUL THAT BLURRED L ING ON THE COPYRIGHT “GOT TO GIVE UP”
GAYE 9 Appelle and Cross-Appellants Frankie Christian Gaye, Nona Marvisa Gaye, and Marv Gaye III (llectively, Gay) appeal om the district urt’s orr on attorney’s fe and sts. The Gay also protectively cross-appeal the district urt’s lg limg the spe of the Gay’ posnal pyright to the four rners of the sheet mic posed wh the Uned Stat Copyright Office. In the event a new trial is orred, the Gay urge to hold that Marv Gaye’s stud rerdg of “Got To Give It Up,” rather than the pos py, tablish the spe of the Gay’ pyright unr the Copyright Act of 1909.
Registered “Got To Give It Up” wh the Uned Stat Copyright Office and posed six pag of handwrten sheet mic attributg the song’s words and mic to Marv Gaye. The Actn The Gay ma an gement mand on Williams and Thicke after hearg “Blurred L.” Negotiatns failed, promptg Williams, Thicke, and Harris to file su for a claratory judgment of non-gement on Augt 15, 2013. The District Court’s Interpretatn of the Copyright Act of 1909 The district urt led that the Gay’ posnal pyright, which is erned by the Copyright Act of 1909, did not extend to the mercial sound rerdg of “Got To Give It Up,” and protected only the sheet mic posed wh the Copyright Office.
1 The Gay asserted a send unterclaim allegg that Thicke’s song “Love After War” ged their pyright Marv Gaye’s posn “After the Dance.” The jury found agast the Gay on the send unterclaim, and judgment was entered agast them.