{"id":61357,"date":"2018-03-24T12:22:57","date_gmt":"2018-03-24T12:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=61357"},"modified":"2018-03-24T12:22:57","modified_gmt":"2018-03-24T12:22:57","slug":"marvin-gaye-family-prevails-blurred-lines-plagiarism-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/entertainment\/marvin-gaye-family-prevails-blurred-lines-plagiarism-case.html","title":{"rendered":"Marvin Gaye family prevails in ‘Blurred Lines’ plagiarism case"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marvin Gaye family prevails in ‘Blurred Lines’ plagiarism case<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

By a 2-1 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Gaye\u2019s 1977 song \u201cGot to Give It Up\u201d deserved \u201cbroad\u201d copyright protection, and the March 2015 jury verdict in favor of Gaye\u2019s three children could stand because there was \u201cnot an absolute absence of evidence\u201d of similarity between the two songs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Circuit Judge Milan Smith also upheld an award of 50 percent of future royalties from \u201cBlurred Lines\u201d to the Gayes. He restored the jury finding that the Interscope record label, part of Vivendi SA, and Clifford Harris, the rapper known as T.I. who added a verse to \u201cBlurred Lines,\u201d should not be liable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jurors had awarded the Gayes $7.4 million, but U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt reduced the sum to $5.3 million, while adding royalties. Kronstadt also said T.I. and Interscope should be liable, but the appeals court disagreed.<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cBlurred Lines\u201d case has transfixed the music industry, prompting debate over the line between plagiarism and honoring works by popular artists like Gaye, whose songs also include \u201cI Heard It Through the Grapevine\u201d and \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On.\u201d Gaye was fatally shot by his father in 1984 at age 44.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s decision prompted a strong dissent from Circuit Judge Jacqueline Nguyen, who said the decision let the Gayes \u201caccomplish what no one has before: copyright a musical style,\u201d and expanded the potential for further copyright litigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the consequence of the majority\u2019s uncritical deference to music experts,\u201d she wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

Howard King, a lawyer for Thicke and Williams, said the dissent \u201cenhances the prospects\u201d his clients may prevail in an appeal. \u201cThese are two entirely different songs,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled,\u201d Richard Busch, the Gayes\u2019 lawyer, said in an interview. \u201cThe decision protects songwriters, and encourages new songwriters to create original works themselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Two of Gaye\u2019s children, Frankie and Nona, called the decision \u201ca victory for the rights of all musicians.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Williams, whose songs also include \u201cHappy,\u201d admitted in court to being a Gaye fan since childhood but said \u201cBlurred Lines\u201d and \u201cGot to Give it Up\u201d were similar in genre only.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thicke has in interviews acknowledged drawing on Gaye\u2019s song but maintained in sworn statements that he exaggerated his contribution to \u201cBlurred Lines.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Song theft lawsuits have proliferated in recent years.<\/span><\/p>\n

This month, for example, Miley Cyrus was accused of stealing her 2013 hit \u201cWe Can\u2019t Stop\u201d from a 1988 work by a Jamaican songwriter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some artists like Ed Sheeran have settled, while, in contrast, Led Zeppelin persuaded a federal jury in June 2016 it did not steal the opening guitar riff to \u201cStairway to Heaven.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-music-blurredlines\/marvin-gaye-family-prevails-in-blurred-lines-plagiarism-case-idUSKBN1GX27P<\/span><\/p>\n

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