Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams hit a major setback in their court battle against the family of the late Marvin Gaye over allegations that their 2013 mega-hit “Blurred Lines” ripped off the soul legend’s 1976 track “Got to Give It Up.”
During a recent hearing, a federal judge denied a motion by Thicke, Pharrell and company, who vied for the court to reject Gaye's family copyright lawsuit.
"Defendants have made a sufficient showing that elements of Blurred Lines may be substantially similar to protected, original elements of Got to Give It Up," Judge John Kronstadt of the US District Court for Central California said. "Genuine issues of material fact are present as to the extrinsic similarity of the works. The intrinsic similarity of the works is a jury question.”
This ruling will now send the case to a jury trial, which is scheduled to take off in February 2015 in Los Angeles.
Leading up to the ruling, both sides brought in music experts, who dissected the songs' structures to debate the merits of the claim.
Do you guys think they ripped the song?
Founder and Creator of Singersroom.com and IncredibleWork.com. Follow me on Instagram at @gary.gentles.
