Marv Gaye’s Estate. v. Rob Thicke – Mic, Copyright, and Media Law

Contents:

• MARV GAYE TATE VS ROB THICKE AND PHARRELL WILLIAMS
• HOW SIAR IS ‘BLURRED L’ TO A 1977 MARV GAYE H?
• ROB THICKE, PHARRELL WILLIAMS TO PAY $5 LN TO MARV GAYE TATE FOR 'BLURRED L'
• WILLIAMS V. GAYE: “BLURRED L” APPEAL HEARG CENTERS ON ADMISSIBILY OF EVINCE ABOUT ORIGAL SOUND RERDG
• MARV GAYE'S FAY WS 'BLURRED L' APPEAL; PHARRELL, ROB THICKE MT PAY
• MARV GAYE’S ESTATE. V. ROB THICKE
• BLURRED L: MARV GAYE'S FAY KEEPS $5M PAYOUT
• MARV GAYE’S ESTATE SU ROB THICKE FOR ‘BLURRED L’ AND MORE

MARV GAYE TATE VS ROB THICKE AND PHARRELL WILLIAMS

Marv Gaye wrote and rerd Got To Give It Up December 1976 and released as a sgle March 1977. Release of the album Blurred L" reprentativ of Marv Gaye's tate and Funkalic's publisher Bridgeport Mic separately ntacted Williams and Thicke allegg that Blurred L ged the pyrights the posns Sexy Ways and Got To Give It Up, and that if they do not "pay a moary settlement of the... The wrers of Blurred L, Pharrell Williams, Rob Thicke and Calv Harris, reacted by "reluctantly" filg a plat for claratory relief on 15 Augt 2013 agast the three children of Marv Gaye, and Bridgeport Mic, the publishers of Funkalic's song Sexy Ways, which had been released 1974.

The Gaye fay filed unterclaims October and November 2013 formally allegg that Blurred L ged the pyright Got To Give It Up. They further alleged that Rob Thicke's song Love After War ged the pyright of Marv Gaye's After The Dance. Before the trial began the district urt led that the Gaye tate uld prent sound rerdgs that had been eded to pture only elements reflected the sheet mic 'pos py', and as a nsequence of this the mercial sound rerdg of Got To Give It Up was not played at the trial.

3m after a relculatn of the profs ma om publishg and label revenu of Blurred L, but wh an orr to pay 50% of future royalti om Blurred L to the Gaye fay, stead of placg an junctn on distributn of Blurred L, as had been requted by the Gaye fay. On 24 Augt 2016 the Blurred L thors lodged an appeal brief wh the 9th Circu Court of Appeals LA, on the grounds that the jury had been wrongly stcted to nsir unprotectable elements of the mic, that there had been improper admissn of expert ttimony (particularly that the Gaye milogists' ttimony referred to elements not prent the sheet mic), and lack of evince supportg the verdict, matag that there is no extrsic or trsic siary between the two songs. It stat that "the majory [verdict at appeal] allows the Gay to acplish what no one has before: pyright a mil style", ntug that "strik a vastatg blow to future micians and posers everywhere.

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

98m to be paid to the Gaye tate, along wh tert on the owed amount, and half of the future royalti om Blurred L. "I told him that one of my favore songs of all time was Marv Gaye’s Got to Give It Up. The document requtg a jury trial on behalf of the Gaye fay claims that Blurred L pi "quantatively and qualatively distct, important, and regnizable portns of Got To Give It Up", which "greatly enhanc the mil and fancial value of Blurred L".

The Gaye fay's milogist Judh Fell suggted that there was a "nstellatn" of "at least eight" siari between the two songs:.

They further argued that the siari argued by the Gaye fay's milogist "do not reflect material that is origal to [Got To] Give [It Up]" - suggtg that all of the mil elements qutn are mon mic and unprotectable. IP Watchdog 8th January 2018 article by Profsor Sean O'Connor, argug that the gement cisn was rrect, and cludg an image of the origal Marv Gaye sheet mic pos at the US Copyright Office. Gaye fay's unterclaim and mand for a jury trial, October 2013.

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

Addn of Marv Gaye III November 2013 to the unterclaim and mand filed October 2013. Williams and Thicke's rponse to ial October unterclaims om Gaye tate, December 2013.

Williams and Thicke's rponse to November addnal unterclaims om Marv Gaye III, December 2013. Compare and ntrast the two songs by listeng to the troductn to Blurred L, by Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams followed by the openg sectn of Marv Gaye's Got to Give Up.

A jury award Gaye's children nearly $7. Legal saga wh Marv Gaye's fay nclus wh fal judgment.

WILLIAMS V. GAYE: “BLURRED L” APPEAL HEARG CENTERS ON ADMISSIBILY OF EVINCE ABOUT ORIGAL SOUND RERDG

Marv Gaye fay's pyright gement lawsu agast Rob Thicke and Pharrell Williams ends $5 ln judgment.

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.

Are jotly required to pay Gaye’s fay. 97 to the Gaye fay.

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

Addnally, The Gaye fay is entled to receive prejudgment tert on the damag award and rpective profs agast each of them, which totals to $9097.

The Gaye fay is also entled to royalti gog forward for 50 percent of the songwrer and publishg revenue g om “Blurred L. Will return to Los Angel feral urt on Tuday to fight claims they pied their multiplatum song om Gaye’s 1977 h “Got To Give It Up.

MARV GAYE’S ESTATE. V. ROB THICKE

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. ) as well as experts on mic licensg and revenue, who will speak to the damag the Gay uld claim if they w.

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. ” (The rerdgs belong to Motown Rerds, which is owned by Universal, which turn owns Interspe — the rerd pany that released Blurred L and a fendant the Gay’ untersu. Judge John Kronstadt agreed a lg January and reaffirmed the lg followg an appeal om the Gay.

His cisn enforced that the Marv Gaye rerdgs of “Got To Give It Up” and “After The Dance” uldn’t be heard urt — the attorneys are only g stripped-down stmentals. 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. The Gay’ attorneys argue that what’s left — the lyrics, the vol melody, the keyboard le and the bass — still remble Thicke’s songs enough to say they’re gement.

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

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. “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. Hook: Fell pared “Take a good girl” to “Keep on danc’ ” Gaye’s song.

MARV GAYE’S ESTATE SU ROB THICKE FOR ‘BLURRED L’ AND MORE

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. That means ’s hard for Thicke and Williams to claim they were fluenced by the genre general, she said, stead of the Gaye songs specifilly. Le by le, the experts pared lyrics cludg Gaye’s “move up / Turn ’round / Shake down” and Thicke’s “Shake around / Get down / Get up.