It’s been a long, messy ride when it comes to the lawsuit regarding the late Marvin Gaye’s family vs. Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams and their 2013 hit, “Blurred Lines,” but the copyright infringement trial finally began earlier this week where both sides came together in a Los Angeles federal courtroom.
The trial will take place in front of eight jurors, five women and three men. Before the trial, it was believed Thicke’s estranged wife Paula Patton would testify against him, although she hasn’t as of yet. Also, some jurors also had to be dismissed due to their bias against the song, as they took offense to the lyrics.
In his opening statement, Howard King, attorney of Thicke and Williams, instructed jurors to listen to the facts in the trial, and not what the media has already reported. He also argued that the song [“Blurred Lines”] was written hastily, and that bit of information should be taken into consideration.
“You’re obviously going to hear details that are embarrassing about Mr. Thicke’s personal life. But what you’re going to hear is that Mr. Thicke did not write that song” said King. “He was supposed to be in the studio with Mr. Williams, because that’s the way Mr. Williams likes it, to have the artist there, but it came to 10 at night and Mr. Thicke was nowhere to be found. Mr. Williams sat down and wrote the song, wrote the music, in an hour.”
The lawsuit began in late 2013 when Marvin Gaye’s family accused Robin Thicke and the song’s producer Pharrell Williams of copying Marvin Gaye’s 1977 classic hit “Got to Give It Up” using a lot of element s for “Blurred Lines,” 2013’s biggest song. Gaye's children Nona and Frankie claim Thicke in general has a "fixation" on their father's work. The legend's son Marvin Gaye III also has beef with Robin's 2011 single “Love After War” (the title track from his 2011 fifth album, Love After War) on which Gaye III family thinks copies his father's song “After The Dance.”
It’s believed “Blurred Lines” earned an estimated $40 million, so an ugly battle lies ahead.
