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Robin Thicke Pharrell Williams Blurred Lines

Blurred Lines litigation ruling ‘handicaps’ inspired musicians, designers and creators says out-of-pocket Pharrell Williams

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By John McCarthy | Opinion Editor

March 20, 2015 | 2 min read

Musician Pharrell Williams has issued a stark warning to content creators of every ilk following a first-of-a-kind US legal ruling forcing ‘Blurred Lines’ writers Williams and Robin Thicke to pay the Marvin Gaye estate $7.3m for the breach of copyright.

In the aftermath of a Los Angeles court ruling that Williams and Thicke infringed the copyright of Marvin Gaye single ‘Got to Give It Up’, the musician expressed concern for the future of referential tracks and artworks.

The court ruled that Blurred Lines shared a similar chord sequence and tone as the Gaye single. As a result, the duo were accused of piecing together a “constellation” of the song's features.

Williams' defence was that Blurred Lines included varying notes and lyrics from the single. He told the FT: “The verdict handicaps any creator out there who is making something that might be inspired by something else.

“This applies to fashion, music, design... anything. If we lose our freedom to be inspired we’re going to look up one day and the entertainment industry as we know it will be frozen in litigation. This is about protecting the intellectual rights of people who have ideas.”

On the Gaye estate’s right to claim possession of elements of the song, Williams added “you can’t own feelings and you can’t own emotions… there are only the notations and the progression,” which he asserted “were different”.

Compare both songs below.

Robin Thicke Pharrell Williams Blurred Lines

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