Rob Thicke’s ‘Blurred L’ vs. Marv Gaye: The War Over Summer’s Song – The Hollywood Reporter

Contents:

• MARV GAYE FAY PREVAILS 'BLURRED L' PLAGIARISM SE
• HOW SIAR IS ‘BLURRED L’ TO A 1977 MARV GAYE H?
• MARV GAYE'S FAY WS 'BLURRED L' APPEAL; PHARRELL, ROB THICKE MT PAY
• BLURRED L: MARV GAYE'S FAY KEEPS $5M PAYOUT
• 'BLURRED L' NTROVERSY RURFAC AS MARV GAYE'S FAY CLAIMS PHARRELL MTED PERJURY
• RULG THAT ‘BLURRED L’ PIED MARV GAYE SONG ROCKS MIC WORLD
• ROB THICKE, PHARRELL WILLIAMS TO PAY $5 LN TO MARV GAYE TATE FOR 'BLURRED L'
• ‘BLURRED L’ INGED ON MARV GAYE COPYRIGHT, JURY RUL
• WILL MARV GAYE BE HEARD AT THE ‘BLURRED L’ TRIAL NEXT MONTH?
• ‘BLURRED L’ LAWSU: MARV GAYE FAY NOW CLAIMS ROB THICKE STOLE TWO SONGS (EXCLIVE)
• MARV GAYE FAY LAWYER: HOW I WON THE ‘BLURRED L’ TRIAL (GUT COLUMN)
• ROB THICKE’S ‘BLURRED L’ VS. MARV GAYE: THE WAR OVER SUMMER’S SONG
• DID ROB THICKE STEAL ‘BLURRED L’ OM MARV GAYE? BY JOE BENT | FEB 1, 2014 | FM2, PLAGIARISM, REARCH, SONGWRG | 74 MENTS[ED: UPDATE 12 MARCH 2015]THE SE HAS NOW BEEN ROLVED, AND THE JURY FOUND THE GAY’ FAVOUR, SPE THE PYG NOT BEG EXACT AND THE MIL ELEMENTS DISSIAR, AS MY ORIGAL FEBARY 2014 POST (BELOW) ARGU. IN AN TERVIEW WH THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, RICHARD BCH, THE GAYE FAY LAWYER, SCRIB HOW THE THICKE SI’S HUBRIS AND NSISTENCY NTRIBUTED TO THE JURY VERDICT GOG AGAST THEM – BUT SISTS THAT THE SE WAS SUCCSFUL BEE OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MIC SELF. FOR THOSE WHO HAVE SAID THAT THIS SETS A DANGERO PRECENT FOR CREATORS (CLUDG ME – SEE THIS MTV NEWS TERVIEW), THIS MAY BE SO TERMS OF DISURAGG MIL HOMAGE ARRANGEMENTS. BUT (US) LEGAL TERMS, A JURY LG IS DIFFERENT OM A URT LG, SO EACH SE IS JUDGED ON S MERS AND ON THE SPECIFIC EVINCE PRENTED. THEREFORE THIS SETTLEMENT DO NOT REPRENT ‘SE LAW’ (AS ATTORNEY BRIAN D CAPLAN POTS OUT THE SAME MTV FEATURE) BUT HAS CERTALY MA SOME CREATORS RATHER UNCERTA ABOUT THEIR FUTURE SONGWRG AND PRODUCG PRACTIC… [JB][ORIGAL POST OM FEBARY 2014 FOLLOWS]THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF MEDIA TERT THE RECENTLY-ROLVED DISPUTE OVER THE ALLEGED SIARY BETWEEN ROB THICKE’S ‘BLURRED L’ (2013) AND MARV GAYE’S ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’ (1977). THE PRS RELEASE THAT STARTED  WAS WRTEN BY THE GAYE FAY’S REPRENTATIV KG AND BALLOW, SO THE SECTN I QUOTE BELOW IS OBVLY ACCATORY, AND THE ‘EVINCE’ C APPEARS TO BE BASED ON LAY LISTENER OPN:THE “BLURRED L” TR SHED TO FILE THEIR SE SOON AFTER THEIR SONG BEGAN ATTRACTG OVERWHELMG ATTENTN OM CRICS AND FANS ABOUT THE SUBSTANTIAL SIARI THAT SURPASS THE REALM OF CINCE TO “GOT TO GIVE UP.”  ON AUGT 8, 2013 ROB HOERBURGER THE NEW YORK TIM  WROTE “BUT WHAT I KEEP G BACK TO IS THE SONG’S CHOICE DNA… AND THAT BASS LE ME RIGHT OM MARV GAYE’S NO. 1 H OM THE SUMMER OF ’77, ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’.” IN THE AUGT 23, 2013 ISSUE OF ROLLG STONE MAGAZE, CONTRIBUTOR DAVID RZ WROTE, “WHEN I FIRST HEARD ROB THICKE’S ‘BLURRED L,’ MY REACTN WAS THE SAME AS LNS OF OTHER R&B FANS: HEY, THAT’S MARV GAYE’S “GOT TO GIVE IT UP.”  THICKE AND PANY NOT ONLY PPED [SIC] GAYE’S DISTCT BASS LE, BUT THE FG FUNK OF THE WBELL ACCENTS. I WASN’T ENTIRELY SURPRISED, SCE SOME YEARS EARLIER THICKE’S ‘LOVE AFTER WAR’ WAS A VIRTUAL LIFT OF MARV’S ‘AFTER THE DANCE’ …”  A QUICK REVIEW OF THE TER REVEALS THE MENTS ARE FAR OM ALONE THIS RPECT.KG AND BALLOW PRS RELEASE, OCTOBER 2013 (SOURCE: RTERS)THE ALLEGATNS, THEN, WERE THAT THICKE (WH -WRERS PHARRELL WILLIAMS AND CLIFF HARRIS JR)COPIED THE BASS LE OF GAYE’S ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’.COPIED THE ‘FG FUNK’ OF THE WBELL ACCENTS.HERE’S A SPOTIFY PLAYLIST AND A YOUTUBE PARISON – LISTEN FOR YOURSELF. [SPOTIFY ID=”SPOTIFY:ER:JOEBENTBATH:PLAYLIST:5FGLQXSR6JJ8PLJHULP9MX” WIDTH=”300″ HEIGHT=”300″ /]——–HERE ARE THE FACTS:BLURRED L IS 120 BEATS PER MUTE.GOT TO GIVE IT UP IS  122 BEATS PER MUTE.BOTH SONGS FEATURE A SYNPATED WBELL PART AND AN ELECTRIC PIANO (GAYE’S BASSLE IS ACTUALLY PLAYED ON A 1976 RMI HARMONIC SYNTHISER).THE VOL MELODI AND LYRICS OF THE SONGS ARE VERY OBVLY DIFFERENT OM ONE ANOTHER.THE SONGS HAVE DIFFERENT CHORD PATTERNS OM EACH OTHER.THE RERDGS ARE DIFFERENT KEYS; ‘BLURRED L’ IS G; ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’ IS A.THE TWO BASSL ARE TRANSCRIBED BELOW. I’VE TRANSPOSED ‘BLURRED L’ TO THE SAME KEY AS ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’ HERE FOR EASE OF PARISON, AND NOTATED THEM A MOR (NO SHARPS OR FLATS) PARTLY FOR SIMPLICY AND PARTLY BEE BOTH BASSL ARE BUILT ON NOT OF THE HOME KEY’S MOR PENTATONIC SLE. THIS ‘NORMALISATN’ IS TEND TO HIGHLIGHT ANY SIARI THAT MIGHT OTHERWISE BE DISGUISED BY TRANSCRIBG ‘BLURRED L’ THE ORIGAL KEY – THAT IS, I’M GIVG GAYE’S SI THE BT POSSIBLE CHANCE OF PROVG THEIR ASSERTN THAT THE BASSLE HAS BEEN PIED. GOT TO GIVE IT UP (MARV GAYE) – TRANSCRIBED OM BAR 5 [0:14]. THIS BASSLE EMPLOYS SUBSTANTIAL RHYTHMIC VARIATNS THROUGHOUT THE SONG. BLURRED L (ROB THICKE). THIS 8-BAR BASS LE IS LOOPED THROUGHOUT THE SONG.WHEN PARED NOTE FOR NOTE LIKE THIS, THE DISSIARY IS OBV. THE BASSL E DIFFERENT NOT, RHYTHMS AND PHRASG OM EACH OTHER. THEY’RE EVEN TAKEN OM DIFFERENT MIL SL. THICKE’S BASS NOT ARE ALL TAKEN OM THE MIXOLYDIAN MO; THE GAYE BASSLE IS BASED AROUND THE PENTATONIC MOR SLE.NOW LET’S LOOK AT THAT WBELL. GAYE THE FOLLOWG WBELL RIFF, WHICH PLAYS PRETTY NSISTENTLY THROUGH THE TRACK. GOT TO GIVE IT UP (MARV GAYE) – 2-BAR WBELL LOOP.THICKE’S SONG HAS MORE WBELL. I’VE NOTATED BOTH PARTS BELOW. THE UPPER ONE (PANNED RIGHT THE MIX) PLAYS A SPECIFIC PATTERN, WH A DIFFERENT RHYTHM OM THE GAYE SONG; THE LOWER ONE (PANNED LEFT) PLAYS AN OFF-BEAT, LIKE A REGGAE ‘SKANK GUAR’ GROOVE. THE LOWER ONE DROPS AND OUT PERDILLY DURG THE TRACK. BLURRED L (ROB THICKE) – 2-BAR WBELL LOOP. COWBELL 1 VARI THIS PATTERN SLIGHTLY ON BEAT 4 AT TIM.THICKE’S WBELLS (ACTUALLY A WBELL AND ANOTHER PERCSN STMENT THAT SOUNDS TO ME MORE LIKE AN ELECTRONIC CLAVE) SYNPATE ON THE 16TH NOT (A SEMIQUAVER GROOVE); GAYE’S SONG IS VERY CLEARLY AN 8 GROOVE. THE ONLY SIARY IS THAT EACH RIFF PLAYS THE FIRST THREE 8TH NOT (QUAVERS) OF THE BAR.———–SO, THOSE ARE THE FACTS, AT LEAST REGARDG POSNAL NOTE CHOIC. NOW LET’S GET BACK TO THE FIRST ACCATN THE PRS RELEASE:THICKE AND PANY NOT ONLY [PIED] GAYE’S DISTCT BASS LE…IF THIS IS TE, AND THICKE’S TEAM  ACTUALLY ‘PIED THE BASS LE’, THEN THEY  CHANGED MOST OF THE PCH, MOVED LOTS OF NOT AROUND, AND LETED SOME NOT. OR PUT ANOTHER WAY, THEY WROTE AN ORIGAL BASSLE.[THICKE HAS PIED] THE FG FUNK OF THE WBELL ACCENTS.WHAT EXACTLY IS ‘THE FG FUNK’? MOST OF THE ACCENTS ‘BLURRED L’ DO NOT APPEAR ON THE SAME BEATS OF THE BAR AS THE GAYE SONG, WHICH BY ANY REASONABLE RHYTHMIC FN MAK THEM DIFFERENT ACCENTS. OR PUT ANOTHER WAY, THEY ARE AN ORIGAL POSNAL IA.SO IF THE NOTE-TO-NOTE MIL DISSIARI ARE SO OBV, WHY DID THIS PRS RELEASE BOTHER TO ACCE THICKE ET AL OF PLAGIARISM? CLEARLY GAYE’S FAY THOUGHT THEY HAD A SE. I THK THE REASON IS THAT THE TRACKS DO SOUND SIAR. INED, I DON’T DOUBT THICKE’S PRODUCTN TEAM LIBERATELY ED ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’ AS A STYLE TEMPLATE TO CREATE THE SOUND AND FEEL OF ‘BLURRED L’. THE STMENTATN AND TEMPOS ARE PRETTY MUCH THE SAME, AND THERE ARE MANY NOTABLE ARRANGEMENT CISNS THE GAYE SONG (FOR EXAMPLE, PLAYG THE BASSLE ON AN ELECTRIC PIANO) THAT OCCUR   ‘BLURRED L’. IN FACT, THICKE HIMSELF STATED PUBLICLY A GQ TERVIEW THAT HIS TEAM WROTE ‘BLURRED L’ G ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’ AS SPIRATN:PHARRELL AND I WERE THE STUD AND I TOLD HIM THAT ONE OF MY FAVORE SONGS OF ALL TIME WAS MARV GAYE’S “GOT TO GIVE IT UP.” I WAS LIKE, “DAMN, WE SHOULD MAKE SOMETHG LIKE THAT, SOMETHG WH THAT GROOVE.” THEN HE STARTED PLAYG A LTLE SOMETHG AND WE LERALLY WROTE THE SONG ABOUT A HALF HOUR AND RERD . THE WHOLE THG WAS DONE A UPLE HOURS…ROB THICKE TERVIEW, 7TH MAY 2013 (TERVIEWED BY STELS PHILI FOR GQ MAGAZE). THE RMI HARMONIC SYNTHISER, ON WHICH MARV GAYE PLAYED THE BASSLE FOR ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP.’SO HOW DID THIS SUATN GET SO OUT OF HAND WHEN WAS CLEAR OM THE START THAT THE POSNS E DIFFERENT NOT AND RHYTHMS OM EACH OTHER? I THK THE ANSWER LI THE FACT THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE NCEPT OF THE SONG AND THE SOUND RERDG OF THE SONG. LISTENERS HEAR THE SONG AND THE SOUND RERDG SIMULTANEOLY, BUT MIC DTRY ADM REQUIR THE SONG AND THE SOUND RERDG TO BE TREATED SEPARATELY (BEE THEY ARE SEPARATE PYRIGHTS). THE GAYE AND THICKE RERDGS SOUND VERY SIAR TO EACH OTHER, BUT THEY E DIFFERENT NOT, SO WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO MAKE A SE THAT THE POSN HAS BEEN PLAGIARISED. AND OF URSE, BLURRED L DO NOT SAMPLE ANY OF THE D OM GAYE’S 1977 SOUND RERDG.SO TO MAKE A SUCCSFUL ACCATN OF PYRIGHT GEMENT, GAYE’S SI WOULD HAVE HAD TO ARGUE THAT THE PRODUCTN ‘FEEL’ (OR AS THE KG AND BALLOW PRS RELEASE PUTS , ‘CHOICE DNA’) OF ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’ ULD ATTRACT PYRIGHT. ANY LEGAL ACTN WOULD PROBABLY HAVE REQUIRED THE URT (WH THE HELP OF MILOGISTS) TO FE EXACTLY HOW THIS ‘CHOICE DNA’ MANIFTED SELF THE RERDG, ORR TO DISCS SIARI. THE ACT OF PUTTG AN ELECTRIC PIANO TOGETHER WH A WBELL AND A 120BPM DIS BEAT WOULD NEED TO HAVE BEEN JUDGED A CREATIVE ACT SELF, MAKG STMENTATN AND POSSIBLY EVEN GENRE TO PROTECTABLE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. WHICH WOULD HAVE HAD MASSIVE IMPLITNS FOR FUTURE CREATORS OF MIC.I’M OFF NOW. MY DELOREAN IS HEADG TO 1885, WHICH IS WHEN I VENTED THE SNARE DM BACKBEAT.74 COMMENTS

MARV GAYE FAY PREVAILS 'BLURRED L' PLAGIARISM SE

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.

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. 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.

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

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. 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.

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

) 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. 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. 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. 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: MARV GAYE'S FAY KEEPS $5M PAYOUT

“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. 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.

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

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. 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. 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.

RULG THAT ‘BLURRED L’ PIED MARV GAYE SONG ROCKS MIC WORLD

"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.

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.

" 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.

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

The product, “Blurred L, ” went on to bee the biggt song of 2013 and brg lns of dollars each for Williams, sger Rob Thicke and the rerd obscure procs — “magic, ” Williams’ attorney lled — and what, if any, part the late soul sger and songwrer Marv Gaye played were the subject of a two-week-long trial a downtown feral urtroom which attorneys, mic experts, valuatn experts and micians argued over the age-old qutn of where spiratn ends and theft Tuday, a feral jury cid that “Blurred L” had pied Gaye’s 1977 chart-topper “Got To Give It Up, ” and found that Williams and Thicke should fork over nearly $7.

Gaye’s dghter, Nona, clung to her attorney and sobbed when the verdict was oute uld reverberate throughout the mic dtry, given how prevalent is the bs to draw spiratn, and sometim more, om earlier Sam Smh agreed earlier this year to share royalti om his song “Stay Wh Me” after parisons to Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down, ” the olr mician wrote on his webse that was a “mil accint, ” and sound a sympathetic note: “All my years of songwrg have shown me the thgs n happen. ”The eight-person jury, most of whom appeared to be more of Gaye’s generatn than Thicke and Williams’ mographic, heard “Blurred L” several tim durg the trial and twice watched the rnchy mic vio — but never got to hear the full rerdg of “Got to Give It Up.

” Bee laws when Gaye wrote the song allowed only the sheet mic posn, not the sound rerdg, to be pyrighted, jurors heard short snippets and a stripped-down versn created by Thicke and Williams’ milogist wh jt Gaye’s vols over a bass le and chords on a said there were pied elements — cludg the bass and keyboard le, the hook and a repeated theme — all but two bars of “Blurred L.

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

” Thicke and Williams disavowed statements they ma over and over aga prs terviews about how they talked about or channeled Gaye as they wrote the oath on the wns stand, Thicke said he had been dnk and high the day the song was wrten and durg his prs terviews, and had sought to unservedly take cred even though he had wrten none of said he had misremembered the events of the night and only realized his error when he heard Williams’ rellectn at a posn. 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.

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. 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.

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

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.

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.

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. 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.

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

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.

MARV GAYE FAY LAWYER: HOW I WON THE ‘BLURRED L’ TRIAL (GUT COLUMN)

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.

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. 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.

While the untersu mak the se that the public has tected Gaye Thicke’s other songs — “cludg the siar bridge and intil lyrics om Marv Gaye’s ‘I Want You’ Thicke’s siarly-themed work, ‘Make U Love Me’ ” — brgs a send pyright gement claim only over Thicke’s “Love After War. Acrdg to the untersu, EMI’s “misnduct” clus failg to intify and raise claims based on entsted Marv Gaye pyrights, and after allegedly admtg that a claim was viable, “subsequently stctg s ligatn attorney to timidate the Gaye Fay om filg an actn by antagonistilly warng that any lawsu would be ivolo.

ROB THICKE’S ‘BLURRED L’ VS. MARV GAYE: THE WAR OVER SUMMER’S SONG

To support the claim that EMI has breached s legal, ntractual and ethil obligatns, the Gaye fay says that the chairman of EMI ntacted s legal reprentative and acced the fay of “g an credible song, ” “killg the goose that laid the goln egg” and beg rponsible for “Blurred L” not receivg an MTV Vio Mic Award.

The Gaye fay also acc EMI and reprentativ of Williams and Thicke of “the plantg of a knowgly false story the prs that the Gaye Fay supposedly turned down a “six figure settlement, ” (no such offer was ma) orr to make them appear unreasonable.

DID ROB THICKE STEAL ‘BLURRED L’ OM MARV GAYE? BY JOE BENT | FEB 1, 2014 | FM2, PLAGIARISM, REARCH, SONGWRG | 74 MENTS[ED: UPDATE 12 MARCH 2015]THE SE HAS NOW BEEN ROLVED, AND THE JURY FOUND THE GAY’ FAVOUR, SPE THE PYG NOT BEG EXACT AND THE MIL ELEMENTS DISSIAR, AS MY ORIGAL FEBARY 2014 POST (BELOW) ARGU. IN AN TERVIEW WH THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, RICHARD BCH, THE GAYE FAY LAWYER, SCRIB HOW THE THICKE SI’S HUBRIS AND NSISTENCY NTRIBUTED TO THE JURY VERDICT GOG AGAST THEM – BUT SISTS THAT THE SE WAS SUCCSFUL BEE OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MIC SELF. FOR THOSE WHO HAVE SAID THAT THIS SETS A DANGERO PRECENT FOR CREATORS (CLUDG ME – SEE THIS MTV NEWS TERVIEW), THIS MAY BE SO TERMS OF DISURAGG MIL HOMAGE ARRANGEMENTS. BUT (US) LEGAL TERMS, A JURY LG IS DIFFERENT OM A URT LG, SO EACH SE IS JUDGED ON S MERS AND ON THE SPECIFIC EVINCE PRENTED. THEREFORE THIS SETTLEMENT DO NOT REPRENT ‘SE LAW’ (AS ATTORNEY BRIAN D CAPLAN POTS OUT THE SAME MTV FEATURE) BUT HAS CERTALY MA SOME CREATORS RATHER UNCERTA ABOUT THEIR FUTURE SONGWRG AND PRODUCG PRACTIC… [JB][ORIGAL POST OM FEBARY 2014 FOLLOWS]THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF MEDIA TERT THE RECENTLY-ROLVED DISPUTE OVER THE ALLEGED SIARY BETWEEN ROB THICKE’S ‘BLURRED L’ (2013) AND MARV GAYE’S ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’ (1977). THE PRS RELEASE THAT STARTED  WAS WRTEN BY THE GAYE FAY’S REPRENTATIV KG AND BALLOW, SO THE SECTN I QUOTE BELOW IS OBVLY ACCATORY, AND THE ‘EVINCE’ C APPEARS TO BE BASED ON LAY LISTENER OPN:THE “BLURRED L” TR SHED TO FILE THEIR SE SOON AFTER THEIR SONG BEGAN ATTRACTG OVERWHELMG ATTENTN OM CRICS AND FANS ABOUT THE SUBSTANTIAL SIARI THAT SURPASS THE REALM OF CINCE TO “GOT TO GIVE UP.”  ON AUGT 8, 2013 ROB HOERBURGER THE NEW YORK TIM  WROTE “BUT WHAT I KEEP G BACK TO IS THE SONG’S CHOICE DNA… AND THAT BASS LE ME RIGHT OM MARV GAYE’S NO. 1 H OM THE SUMMER OF ’77, ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’.” IN THE AUGT 23, 2013 ISSUE OF ROLLG STONE MAGAZE, CONTRIBUTOR DAVID RZ WROTE, “WHEN I FIRST HEARD ROB THICKE’S ‘BLURRED L,’ MY REACTN WAS THE SAME AS LNS OF OTHER R&B FANS: HEY, THAT’S MARV GAYE’S “GOT TO GIVE IT UP.”  THICKE AND PANY NOT ONLY PPED [SIC] GAYE’S DISTCT BASS LE, BUT THE FG FUNK OF THE WBELL ACCENTS. I WASN’T ENTIRELY SURPRISED, SCE SOME YEARS EARLIER THICKE’S ‘LOVE AFTER WAR’ WAS A VIRTUAL LIFT OF MARV’S ‘AFTER THE DANCE’ …”  A QUICK REVIEW OF THE TER REVEALS THE MENTS ARE FAR OM ALONE THIS RPECT.KG AND BALLOW PRS RELEASE, OCTOBER 2013 (SOURCE: RTERS)THE ALLEGATNS, THEN, WERE THAT THICKE (WH -WRERS PHARRELL WILLIAMS AND CLIFF HARRIS JR)COPIED THE BASS LE OF GAYE’S ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’.COPIED THE ‘FG FUNK’ OF THE WBELL ACCENTS.HERE’S A SPOTIFY PLAYLIST AND A YOUTUBE PARISON – LISTEN FOR YOURSELF. [SPOTIFY ID=”SPOTIFY:ER:JOEBENTBATH:PLAYLIST:5FGLQXSR6JJ8PLJHULP9MX” WIDTH=”300″ HEIGHT=”300″ /]——–HERE ARE THE FACTS:BLURRED L IS 120 BEATS PER MUTE.GOT TO GIVE IT UP IS  122 BEATS PER MUTE.BOTH SONGS FEATURE A SYNPATED WBELL PART AND AN ELECTRIC PIANO (GAYE’S BASSLE IS ACTUALLY PLAYED ON A 1976 RMI HARMONIC SYNTHISER).THE VOL MELODI AND LYRICS OF THE SONGS ARE VERY OBVLY DIFFERENT OM ONE ANOTHER.THE SONGS HAVE DIFFERENT CHORD PATTERNS OM EACH OTHER.THE RERDGS ARE DIFFERENT KEYS; ‘BLURRED L’ IS G; ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’ IS A.THE TWO BASSL ARE TRANSCRIBED BELOW. I’VE TRANSPOSED ‘BLURRED L’ TO THE SAME KEY AS ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’ HERE FOR EASE OF PARISON, AND NOTATED THEM A MOR (NO SHARPS OR FLATS) PARTLY FOR SIMPLICY AND PARTLY BEE BOTH BASSL ARE BUILT ON NOT OF THE HOME KEY’S MOR PENTATONIC SLE. THIS ‘NORMALISATN’ IS TEND TO HIGHLIGHT ANY SIARI THAT MIGHT OTHERWISE BE DISGUISED BY TRANSCRIBG ‘BLURRED L’ THE ORIGAL KEY – THAT IS, I’M GIVG GAYE’S SI THE BT POSSIBLE CHANCE OF PROVG THEIR ASSERTN THAT THE BASSLE HAS BEEN PIED. GOT TO GIVE IT UP (MARV GAYE) – TRANSCRIBED OM BAR 5 [0:14]. THIS BASSLE EMPLOYS SUBSTANTIAL RHYTHMIC VARIATNS THROUGHOUT THE SONG. BLURRED L (ROB THICKE). THIS 8-BAR BASS LE IS LOOPED THROUGHOUT THE SONG.WHEN PARED NOTE FOR NOTE LIKE THIS, THE DISSIARY IS OBV. THE BASSL E DIFFERENT NOT, RHYTHMS AND PHRASG OM EACH OTHER. THEY’RE EVEN TAKEN OM DIFFERENT MIL SL. THICKE’S BASS NOT ARE ALL TAKEN OM THE MIXOLYDIAN MO; THE GAYE BASSLE IS BASED AROUND THE PENTATONIC MOR SLE.NOW LET’S LOOK AT THAT WBELL. GAYE THE FOLLOWG WBELL RIFF, WHICH PLAYS PRETTY NSISTENTLY THROUGH THE TRACK. GOT TO GIVE IT UP (MARV GAYE) – 2-BAR WBELL LOOP.THICKE’S SONG HAS MORE WBELL. I’VE NOTATED BOTH PARTS BELOW. THE UPPER ONE (PANNED RIGHT THE MIX) PLAYS A SPECIFIC PATTERN, WH A DIFFERENT RHYTHM OM THE GAYE SONG; THE LOWER ONE (PANNED LEFT) PLAYS AN OFF-BEAT, LIKE A REGGAE ‘SKANK GUAR’ GROOVE. THE LOWER ONE DROPS AND OUT PERDILLY DURG THE TRACK. BLURRED L (ROB THICKE) – 2-BAR WBELL LOOP. COWBELL 1 VARI THIS PATTERN SLIGHTLY ON BEAT 4 AT TIM.THICKE’S WBELLS (ACTUALLY A WBELL AND ANOTHER PERCSN STMENT THAT SOUNDS TO ME MORE LIKE AN ELECTRONIC CLAVE) SYNPATE ON THE 16TH NOT (A SEMIQUAVER GROOVE); GAYE’S SONG IS VERY CLEARLY AN 8 GROOVE. THE ONLY SIARY IS THAT EACH RIFF PLAYS THE FIRST THREE 8TH NOT (QUAVERS) OF THE BAR.———–SO, THOSE ARE THE FACTS, AT LEAST REGARDG POSNAL NOTE CHOIC. NOW LET’S GET BACK TO THE FIRST ACCATN THE PRS RELEASE:THICKE AND PANY NOT ONLY [PIED] GAYE’S DISTCT BASS LE…IF THIS IS TE, AND THICKE’S TEAM  ACTUALLY ‘PIED THE BASS LE’, THEN THEY  CHANGED MOST OF THE PCH, MOVED LOTS OF NOT AROUND, AND LETED SOME NOT. OR PUT ANOTHER WAY, THEY WROTE AN ORIGAL BASSLE.[THICKE HAS PIED] THE FG FUNK OF THE WBELL ACCENTS.WHAT EXACTLY IS ‘THE FG FUNK’? MOST OF THE ACCENTS ‘BLURRED L’ DO NOT APPEAR ON THE SAME BEATS OF THE BAR AS THE GAYE SONG, WHICH BY ANY REASONABLE RHYTHMIC FN MAK THEM DIFFERENT ACCENTS. OR PUT ANOTHER WAY, THEY ARE AN ORIGAL POSNAL IA.SO IF THE NOTE-TO-NOTE MIL DISSIARI ARE SO OBV, WHY DID THIS PRS RELEASE BOTHER TO ACCE THICKE ET AL OF PLAGIARISM? CLEARLY GAYE’S FAY THOUGHT THEY HAD A SE. I THK THE REASON IS THAT THE TRACKS DO SOUND SIAR. INED, I DON’T DOUBT THICKE’S PRODUCTN TEAM LIBERATELY ED ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’ AS A STYLE TEMPLATE TO CREATE THE SOUND AND FEEL OF ‘BLURRED L’. THE STMENTATN AND TEMPOS ARE PRETTY MUCH THE SAME, AND THERE ARE MANY NOTABLE ARRANGEMENT CISNS THE GAYE SONG (FOR EXAMPLE, PLAYG THE BASSLE ON AN ELECTRIC PIANO) THAT OCCUR   ‘BLURRED L’. IN FACT, THICKE HIMSELF STATED PUBLICLY A GQ TERVIEW THAT HIS TEAM WROTE ‘BLURRED L’ G ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’ AS SPIRATN:PHARRELL AND I WERE THE STUD AND I TOLD HIM THAT ONE OF MY FAVORE SONGS OF ALL TIME WAS MARV GAYE’S “GOT TO GIVE IT UP.” I WAS LIKE, “DAMN, WE SHOULD MAKE SOMETHG LIKE THAT, SOMETHG WH THAT GROOVE.” THEN HE STARTED PLAYG A LTLE SOMETHG AND WE LERALLY WROTE THE SONG ABOUT A HALF HOUR AND RERD . THE WHOLE THG WAS DONE A UPLE HOURS…ROB THICKE TERVIEW, 7TH MAY 2013 (TERVIEWED BY STELS PHILI FOR GQ MAGAZE). THE RMI HARMONIC SYNTHISER, ON WHICH MARV GAYE PLAYED THE BASSLE FOR ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP.’SO HOW DID THIS SUATN GET SO OUT OF HAND WHEN WAS CLEAR OM THE START THAT THE POSNS E DIFFERENT NOT AND RHYTHMS OM EACH OTHER? I THK THE ANSWER LI THE FACT THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE NCEPT OF THE SONG AND THE SOUND RERDG OF THE SONG. LISTENERS HEAR THE SONG AND THE SOUND RERDG SIMULTANEOLY, BUT MIC DTRY ADM REQUIR THE SONG AND THE SOUND RERDG TO BE TREATED SEPARATELY (BEE THEY ARE SEPARATE PYRIGHTS). THE GAYE AND THICKE RERDGS SOUND VERY SIAR TO EACH OTHER, BUT THEY E DIFFERENT NOT, SO WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO MAKE A SE THAT THE POSN HAS BEEN PLAGIARISED. AND OF URSE, BLURRED L DO NOT SAMPLE ANY OF THE D OM GAYE’S 1977 SOUND RERDG.SO TO MAKE A SUCCSFUL ACCATN OF PYRIGHT GEMENT, GAYE’S SI WOULD HAVE HAD TO ARGUE THAT THE PRODUCTN ‘FEEL’ (OR AS THE KG AND BALLOW PRS RELEASE PUTS , ‘CHOICE DNA’) OF ‘GOT TO GIVE IT UP’ ULD ATTRACT PYRIGHT. ANY LEGAL ACTN WOULD PROBABLY HAVE REQUIRED THE URT (WH THE HELP OF MILOGISTS) TO FE EXACTLY HOW THIS ‘CHOICE DNA’ MANIFTED SELF THE RERDG, ORR TO DISCS SIARI. THE ACT OF PUTTG AN ELECTRIC PIANO TOGETHER WH A WBELL AND A 120BPM DIS BEAT WOULD NEED TO HAVE BEEN JUDGED A CREATIVE ACT SELF, MAKG STMENTATN AND POSSIBLY EVEN GENRE TO PROTECTABLE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. WHICH WOULD HAVE HAD MASSIVE IMPLITNS FOR FUTURE CREATORS OF MIC.I’M OFF NOW. MY DELOREAN IS HEADG TO 1885, WHICH IS WHEN I VENTED THE SNARE DM BACKBEAT.74 COMMENTS

“Not only did EMI fail to brg this actn, which is necsary to rry out EMI’s duti to protect the Gaye Fay’s pyrights, ” says the untersu, “EMI attempted to dissua the Gaye Fay om pursug this actn by repeated threats and tactics to timidate the Gaye Fay and s reprentativ. Based upon the blatant and egreg breach of the EMI Defendants’ fiduciary duty and their venant of good fah and fair alg, the EMI Defendants have proven that they nnot be tsted to rema ntral and impartial, and that they are unworthy of the level of tst and profsnal nduct which is required of a pyright admistrator charged wh protectg the Gaye Fay’s important terts pyrighted works created by Marv Gaye. What is surprisg their prs-release-disguised-as-a-plat (much of which will eventually be stricken by the urt) is their acknowledgment that the Gaye fay has no standg to brg a pyright claim.

A spokperson for Sony/ATV said a statement that hadn’t yet seen the claims, but add, “We have repeatedly advised the Gaye fay’s attorney that the two songs qutn have been evaluated by a leadg milogist who nclud that ‘Blurred L’ do not ge ‘Got To Give It Up. When Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams cid to lnch a lawsu seekg claratory relief that “Blurred L” wasn’t a pyright gement of Marv Gaye‘s “Got to Give It Up, ” I didn’t know they’d do this. I am my own biggt cric who broods over any mistak, and if I was nervo, was only bee of how strongly I wanted to do right by Nona and Frankie Gaye, but let me tell you somethg: When I do a trial, ’s like an dividual battle each day amid a larger war.

[ed: update 12 March 2015]The se has now been rolved, and the jury found the Gay’ favour, spe the pyg not beg exact and the mil elements dissiar, as my origal Febary 2014 post (below) argu. In an terview wh the Hollywood Reporter, Richard Bch, the Gaye fay lawyer, scrib how the Thicke si’s hubris and nsistency ntributed to the jury verdict gog agast them – but sists that the se was succsful bee of the characteristics of the mic self.