Why the Marv Gaye ‘Blurred L’ payout is absurd and worryg

Contents:

• MARV GAYE FAY PREVAILS 'BLURRED L' PLAGIARISM SE
• HOW SIAR IS ‘BLURRED L’ TO A 1977 MARV GAYE H?
• 'BLURRED L' NTROVERSY RURFAC AS MARV GAYE'S FAY CLAIMS PHARRELL MTED PERJURY
• ‘BLURRED L’ INGED ON MARV GAYE COPYRIGHT, JURY RUL
• MARV GAYE'S FAY WS 'BLURRED L' APPEAL; PHARRELL, ROB THICKE MT PAY
• BLURRED L: MARV GAYE'S FAY KEEPS $5M PAYOUT
• BLURRED L JURY AWARDS MARV GAYE FAY $7M
• "BLURRED L": EL PLAG LA NCIóN POR EL QUE PHARRELL WILLIAMS Y ROB THICKE TENDRáN QUE PAGAR US$5 LON A LA FAIA MARV GAYE
• WILL MARV GAYE BE HEARD AT THE ‘BLURRED L’ TRIAL NEXT MONTH?
• 'BLURRED L' JURY FDS FOR MARV GAYE
• ROB THICKE, PHARRELL WILLIAMS TO PAY $5 LN TO MARV GAYE TATE FOR 'BLURRED L'
• WHY THE MARV GAYE ‘BLURRED L’ PAYOUT IS ABSURD AND WORRYG
• ‘BLURRED L’ LAWSU: MARV GAYE FAY NOW CLAIMS ROB THICKE STOLE TWO SONGS (EXCLIVE)

MARV GAYE FAY PREVAILS 'BLURRED L' PLAGIARISM SE

Circu Court of Appeals said Gaye’s 1977 song “Got to Give It Up” served “broad” pyright protectn, and the March 2015 jury verdict favor of Gaye’s three children uld stand bee there was “not an absolute absence of evince” of siary between the two songs. And Interspe should be liable, but the appeals urt “Blurred L” se has transfixed the mic dtry, promptg bate over the le between plagiarism and honorg works by popular artists like Gaye, whose songs also clu “I Heard It Through the Grapeve” and “What’s Gog On. Wednday’s cisn prompted a strong dissent om Circu Judge Jacquele Nguyen, who said the cisn let the Gay “acplish what no one has before: pyright a mil style, ” and expand the potential for further pyright ligatn.

”Williams, whose songs also clu “Happy, ” admted urt to beg a Gaye fan sce childhood but said “Blurred L” and “Got to Give Up” were siar genre has terviews acknowledged drawg on Gaye’s song but mataed sworn statements that he exaggerated his ntributn to “Blurred L. A judge has entered a nearly $5 ln judgment agast Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams favor of Marv Gaye’s fay the long-nng lawsu volvg pyright gement surroundg Thicke and Williams’ song “Blurred L” and Gaye’s 1977 h “Got to Give It Up, ” Billboard reports.

Composer, arranger, and thor Richard Nil, PhD., talks about the signifince of the pyright claim agast Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams song “Blurred L” and victor lawsu om the Marv Gaye tate.

HOW SIAR IS ‘BLURRED L’ TO A 1977 MARV GAYE H?

But when the Marv Gaye tate was victor s claim that the Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams song “Blurred L” had ged the pyright of Marv Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up, ” sent rippl through the mic dtry. Still, while ncedg that “Blurred L” did not py any of Gaye’s melodi or lyrics, the urt neverthels led that the siary of the “feel” of the rhythm sectn was sufficient grounds for a cisn of pyright gement. But no one has mentned that the rhythm arrangement on “Got to Give It Up” was not wrten by Marv Gaye alone, though he owned the rights to acrdg to pyright law as terpreted at the time.

'BLURRED L' NTROVERSY RURFAC AS MARV GAYE'S FAY CLAIMS PHARRELL MTED PERJURY

The sger’s children Frankie and Nona Gaye rpond wh unterclaims that the micians ged “Got To Give It Up” — and that Thicke and ex-wife Pla Patton pied a send Gaye song, “After The Dance, ” -wrg Thicke’s 2011 track “Love After War. In recent motns, Thicke and Williams’ attorneys threw the Gay a pyright curveball wh the argument they don’t own their father’s mercially released rerdgs — they only own the posnal elements the sheet mic “lead sheets.

But more importantly, the cisn means that cidg whether gement occurred, the jury will only nsir whether “Blurred L” and “Love After War” borrow excsively om what’s the Gay’ lead sheets. On Thursday and Friday, the Gaye fay’s attorney Richard Bch lled a pair of milogists to the stand, and the urtroom beme a urse on mic theory wh their ttimoni on what they hear mon between the posns.

‘BLURRED L’ INGED ON MARV GAYE COPYRIGHT, JURY RUL

“Signature phrase”: Judh Fell, the Berkeley-ted head of a milogy nsultg firm, labeled one phrase per song the immediately intifiable “signature phrase”: the openg lyrics “I ed to go out to parti” Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up” and the chos opener “And that’s why I’m gon’ take a good girl” “Blurred L. The Gay’ other mil expert, Harvard profsor of Ain-Amerin mic Ingrid Monson, argued that Gaye’s bass le and s pairg wh a reggae- or ragtime-fluenced keyboard melody were highly unual Motown mic.

Miller rpond that Thicke’s vols don’t match the Gaye sheet mic, but Fell said the discrepancy is bee Thicke’s theme X match a harmony not wrten but implied the lead sheet. The long pyright lawsu over Pharrell Williams and Rob Thicke's "Blurred L, " and whether ripped off Marv Gaye's "Got to Give It Up, " reared s head aga after supposedly ncludg 2018. " Gaye's fay argu this statement shows Williams mted perjury durg his posn the pyright se, when he stated: "I did not go the stud wh the tentn of makg anythg feel like, or to sound like, Marv Gaye.

(Photo by Josh Brasted/FilmMagic) Cred: Josh Brasted/FilmMagic "The admissns are irrencilable wh Williams's repeated, sworn ttimony this actn that: neher 'Got To' nor Marv Gaye ever entered his md while creatg 'Blurred, ' that he did not try to make 'Blurred' feel like 'Got To' or sound like Marv Gaye, " the Gaye fay's motn reads, argug this nstut "a d on this Court. " In 2015, a jury found Williams and Thicke liable for pyright gement, and an appeals urt upheld the lg 2018, wh Judge Kronstadt awardg damag and half of all future royalti for "Blurred L" to the Gaye fay. AdvertisementSKIP McCarten/RtersMarch 10, 2015For the last year and a half, the mic dtry has been gripped by a lawsu over whether Rob Thicke’s 2013 h “Blurred L” was merely remiscent of a song by Marv Gaye, or had crossed the le to plagiarism.

MARV GAYE'S FAY WS 'BLURRED L' APPEAL; PHARRELL, ROB THICKE MT PAY

”A rrectn was ma onMarch 13, 2015: An article on Wednday about the pyright gement trial volvg the song “Blurred L” referred imprecisely to the damag award to the fay of Marv Gaye. Pharrell Williams and Rob Thicke had a certified h on their hands wh 2013’s "Blurred L, " a Billboard Song of the Summer that seemed to many listeners to borrow om Marv Gaye’s qutsential 1977 h “Got To Give It Up.

Wh the Circu Court fdg favor of the Gaye tate, means that artists might nsir errg on the si of utn and extreme due diligence when to the forc that lead to song or beat creatn.

BLURRED L: MARV GAYE'S FAY KEEPS $5M PAYOUT

Bee 's mighty difficult to listen to Stevie Wonr, Marv Gaye and Dnne Warwick your whole life and not some way be spired by their mic a way that might meld wh or fluence your own origal works later life.

That's bee the song was excellent and will ntue to garner streams and sps, so Gaye’s fay stands to prof nsirably om the age and future age if the song ntu to circulate. The attorney for some members of the Gaye fay says the se played out well, and he also says he believ the Gaye fay would have pursued this lawsu even if the song wasn't a smash h. It regniz that the jury properly found that 'Blurred L' pied Marv Gaye’s groundbreakg 1977 h 'Got to Give It Up, '" said Richard Bch, an attorney for some of the Gaye fay members.

Image source, InterspeImage ptn, Blurred L went to number one the UK while s X-rated vio provoked ntroversyRob Thicke and Pharrell Williams pied one of Marv Gaye's songs to create their 2013 smash Blurred L, an appeal urt has urt upheld a 2015 verdict agast the stars, which means Gaye's fay will get to keep a $5m (£3. Circu Judge Jacquele Nguyen add that the lg "strik a vastatg blow to future micians and posers everywhere" the origal 2015 trial, a jury found that Blurred L had pied Gaye's 1977 h Got To Give It Up - spe many observers claimg the songs were only siar feel, rather than, Williams and rapper TI, who ntributed a verse to the track, lnched an appeal 2016 and were backed by 212 fellow songwrers, among them John Oat, Jason Mraz and members of Lk argued the verdict "threaten[ed] to punish songwrers for creatg new mic that is spired by prr works. "Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, The h sgle ma more than $5m (£3m) for Williams (left) and ThickeBut the 9th US Circu Court of Appeals largely upheld the cisn, while clearg TI - real name Clifford Harris Jr - of any pyright judg rejected Williams and Thicke's requt to orr a new trial, sayg Gaye's pyright was entled to broad protectn.

BLURRED L JURY AWARDS MARV GAYE FAY $7M

Wednday's cisn prompted a strong dissent om Circu Judge Jacquele said the cisn let the Gay "acplish what no one has before: pyright a mil style" and expand the potential for further pyright ligatn. "Image source, RtersImage ptn, Frankie (left) and Nona Gaye said the urt proceedgs uld have been avoidMilogists have reacted wh disappotment to the lg, sayg might hr creativy the Bent, a profsor at Berklee College of Mic, wrote a note-by-note parison of the two songs 2014 and nclud they only shared a groove. Media ptn, The lawyer for Marv Gaye's fay revealed outsi urt that the se had origally been brought agast themA jury the Uned Stat has led that the wrers of Blurred L - one of the bt-sellg sgl of all time - pied a Marv Gaye Los Angel cid that the 2013 sgle by Pharrell Williams and Rob Thicke breached the pyright of Gaye's 1977 h Got To Give It Up.

"Image source, APImage ptn, One of Gaye's dghter's, Nona, said she felt "ee" after the lgIn urt, Williams had told jurors that Gaye's mic was part of the soundtrack of his youth but he sisted was not on his md when he wrote the song.

"BLURRED L": EL PLAG LA NCIóN POR EL QUE PHARRELL WILLIAMS Y ROB THICKE TENDRáN QUE PAGAR US$5 LON A LA FAIA MARV GAYE

Los ntant Rob Thicke y Pharrell Williams, quien popularizaron en 2013 te tema que fue nomado a dos prems Grammy, berán pagar US$5 lon a los faiar Marv juez feral California, Estados Unidos, po f ta semana a una larga batalla judicial que enzó hace c años, dando la razón a la faia Gaye, que nunció que Blurred l era un plag l éxo Got to give up (1977) l fallecido mú sentencia nfirmó una victoria previa en tribunal los hereros Gaye 2015, pero que fue recurrida por los, ellos y el sello disgráfi More Water From Nazareth berán abonar a los faiar Gaye US$5 lon que, s embargo, quedan lejos los US$16 lon ganancias que generó Blurred l s su Reendamos y ntuar leyendoReendamosFal ReendamosAmás, la faia Gaye recibirá el 50% todos los royalti futuros la nción. Previamente, Williams renoció en el tribunal que la músi Gaye forma parte la banda sonora su juventud, pero sistió en que no la tenía en mente cuando cribió la nció la imagen, Getty ImagPie foto, El músi soul Marv Gaye falleció en obstante, sí renoció una semejanza entre los dos temas y admió que taba "nalizando la sensación fal los años 70" cuando cribió la nció ttificó que él ntribuyó po a la posición l é nocerse la cisión l juez, dos los hijos Gaye, Frankie y Nona, la lifiron "una victoria para los rechos todos los músis" pues recibir notificn BBC News Mundo. The cisn, which hged on the fact that Gaye’s fay owned only elements of the sheet mic to “Got to Give It Up, ” me om eight jurors who listened to ttimony om milogists, as well as Thicke and Williams.

Rpond to threats of legal actn by the Gaye tate and publisher Bridgeport Mic by preemptively sug them, along wh Funkalic, claimg “Blurred L” was “strikgly different” than “Got to Give It Up” and the latter group’s “Sexy Ways. The Gaye tate, which reprents the sger’s children Frankie and Nona, fired back two months later, claimg Thicke had pilfered not only “Got to Give It Up” but also Gaye’s “After the Dance” and “I Want You” on Thicke’s 2011 album Love After War.

WILL MARV GAYE BE HEARD AT THE ‘BLURRED L’ TRIAL NEXT MONTH?

The fay alleged at the time that the Canadian sger had a “Marv Gaye fixatn” and acced the publisher of Gaye’s songs, EMI, of not protectg the soul in’s talogue sce had fold to Sony ATV, which manag Thicke’s mic. ) They also ced terviews where Thicke said he’d stolen om Gaye, cludg tellg GQ that one of his favore songs was “Got to Give It Up” and that he told Williams that they should wre a song wh the same “groove. Next month, many ears will be attuned to a feral urtroom California where the fay of Marv Gaye will do battle agast Pharrell Williams and Rob Thicke over the ntroversial creatn of….

Next month, many ears will be attuned to a feral urtroom California where the fay of Marv Gaye will do battle agast Pharrell Williams and Rob Thicke over the ntroversial creatn of the mega-h song, “Blurred L. 10 trial that will surely be an historic one for the mic dtry, both sis have submted memos that outle their key arguments and evince over whether “Blurred L” is or isn’t a pyright gement of Gaye’s 1977 chart-topper “Got to Give It Up.

Naturally, attemptg to prove substantial siary, attorneys for the Gaye fay want the jury to hear the two songs (along wh Gaye’s “After the Dance” and Thicke’s “Love After War”).

'BLURRED L' JURY FDS FOR MARV GAYE

District Judge John Kronstadt rejected summary judgment the lawsu, he led that the Gaye fay hadn’t sufficiently shown that the “Got to Give It Up” pyright enpassed “material other than that reflected the lead sheets posed wh the Copyright Office. The lawsu is now about whether Gaye’s posn was ged, and if the jury isn’t sophistited enough to read sheet mic, Howard Kg and Seth Miller, attorneys for Williams and Thicke, have a proposal. Acrdg to the Gay, “This is not relevant, no probative value, prejudicial, distractg to the jury, and they [EMI] have a nflict of tert bee “Blurred L, ” which they own, is their ‘goln goose’ and Williams is one of their wrers.

” His attorney wants much of this preclud as irrelevant and prejudicial and stat that Thicke’s ments to the prs about beg spired by Gaye don’t mean much sce they stipulate to the fact that the sger had accs to the song. The Gaye fay will likely seek as much as they n get — profs and statutory damag — while Williams and Thicke hope to lim potential damag to the value of the license fee they would have paid for the Gaye songs. His children — Nona, Frankie and Marv Gaye III — were prent urt when the verdict was Gaye wept as the verdict was beg read and was hugged by her attorney, Richard Bch.

"Thicke and his reprentativ have not spoken publicly sce the verdict was jury reached the cisn after hearg nearly a week of ttimony about siari between Blurred L — the biggt h of 2013 — and Gaye's and Williams nied pyg. Although both are creded as s songwrers, Williams wrote the song about an hour 2012, and the pair rerd one night, acrdg to the verdict uld tarnish the legacy of Williams, a reliable hmaker who has won Grammy Awards and appears on NBC's mic petn show The attorney for Thicke and Williams has said a cisn favor of Gaye's heirs uld have a chillg effect on micians who try to emulate an era or another artist's sound.

ROB THICKE, PHARRELL WILLIAMS TO PAY $5 LN TO MARV GAYE TATE FOR 'BLURRED L'

I mp ntend they did nothg wrong beg spired by Gaye and evokg the feelg of Gaye's lawyers for Gaye's children acced Williams and Thicke of repeatedly changg their stori about how they created Blurred L and felt their clients served a piece of the lns of dollars the song has ma. I., told jurors a verdict for the Gaye fay would stifle artists and hib micians tryg to recreate an era or genre of two-week trial was entertag, enlighteng and lorful.

Sheeran (2023)‘Thkg Out Loud’“Let’s Get It On”Marv Gaye“Thkg Out Loud”Ed SheeranIn a long-nng se that was layed part by the ronavis panmic, heirs of Townsend, Gaye’s -wrer of “Let’s Get It On, ” acce Sheeran of pyg the “heart” of that song for his h “Thkg Out Loud. “Y, Amy Wadge and I wrote the song ‘Thkg Out Loud, ’” he Newman/Associated PrsIn a closely watched mic pyright trial, jurors ultimately sid wh Ed Sheeran, who had been acced of pyg his Grammy-wng ballad “Thkg Out Loud” om Marv Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On. The trial was watched closely mic and legal circl as the latt example a seri of s that have alt wh whether monplace bs of harmony or melody n be owned by any poser or are part of the public trend began 2015 when a jury found that Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams, their h “Blurred L, ” had ged on the pyright of another Gaye tune, “Got to Give It Up, ” and they were orred to pay more than $5 ln damag.

Rob Thicke, Pharrell Williams to pay $5 ln to Marv Gaye tate for 'Blurred L'The five-year legal battle has end wh a verdict favor of Mart Gaye's tate, who sued claimg "Blurred L" pied Gaye's "Got To Give It Up"Sger Pharrell Williams and sger Rob Thicke perform together Fayetteville, Arkansas, on June 6, Wilkg / Rters fileDec. 13, 2018, 8:24 PM UTCThe long drawn-out pyright battle over Rob Thicke’s 2013 song “Blurred L” has end after a judge orred Thicke and Pharrell Williams to pay almost $5 ln to Marv Gaye’s tate the se’s fal lg.

WHY THE MARV GAYE ‘BLURRED L’ PAYOUT IS ABSURD AND WORRYG

Was cleared of any liabily March, a cisn upheld this last and fal Gaye tate was also reward half of the song’s nng royalti om after the urt’s origal judgment date, and tert of 0. In 2016, more than 200 micians, cludg Jennifer Hudson and Hans Zimmer, filed an amic brief support of Thicke and Williams appeal, claimg the verdict would be “very dangero” to the mic the Gaye fay first filed their lawsu, other high-profile artists like Lana Del Rey and Mark Ronson have been siarly KslenBen Kslen is a reporter for NBC News.

‘BLURRED L’ LAWSU: MARV GAYE FAY NOW CLAIMS ROB THICKE STOLE TWO SONGS (EXCLIVE)

AdvertisementSKIP Betancur/Agence France-Prse — Getty ImagMarch 21, 2018In the mic dtry’s most closely watched pyright se, a feral appeals urt on Wednday upheld a jury’s fdg that Rob Thicke’s song “Blurred L” ged on the pyright of Marv Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up. A key factor the jury’s cisn was based on the fact that they were given only the basic elements of Gaye’s song om the sheet mic (which was protected by the tate) to pare to “Blurred L.

In March 2015, the jury led favor of the Gaye tate, statg that while Williams and Thicke did not directly py “Got to Give It Up, ” there was enough of a siar “feel” to warrant pyright gement. On Wednday, the fay went nuclear wh unterclaims that allege that Thicke stole the summer mega-h and also mted pyright gement on Gaye’s “After the Dance” to create his song “Love After War. Acrdg to the unterclaims, EMI has breached a ntract and s fiduciary duty by failg to protect Gaye’s songs, attemptg to timidate the fay agast filg any legal actn, failg to rema ntral when faced wh a nflict of tert and attemptg to turn public opn agast the fay.

The penalty for those acts, says the Gaye fay, should be that EMI los all profs on “Blurred L” as well as rights to admister the song talog of Gaye, known as the “Prce of Soul. Went to a California feral urt wh the aim of preemptively protectg “Blurred L” om allegatns that was illegally rived om Gaye’s song as well as Funkalic’s “Sexy Ways. In the latt urt papers, Frankie Gaye and Nona Gaye say that not only do the lawsu ncern “blatant pyg of a nstellatn of distctive and signifint posnal elements of Marv Gaye’s classic #1 song, ” but that Thicke himself ndidly admted as much.