In order to shield “Blurred Lines,” Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and Clifford Harris, Jr. are going to court.
A lawsuit was filed Thursday in California federal court by the trio against Marvin Gaye’s family and Bridgeport Music, which owns some of Funkadelic’s compositions. At issue are complaints about similarities between “Blurred Lines” and at least two songs.
According to the suit, a copy of which was obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, “Plaintiffs, who have the utmost respect for and admiration of Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic and their musical legacies, reluctantly file this action in the face of multiple adverse claims from alleged successors in interest to those artists.
The suit claims the Gaye family is alleging that “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” “feel” or “sound” the same, and that the “Gaye defendants are claiming ownership of an entire genre, as opposed to a specific work.”
“But there are no similarities between plaintiffs’ composition and those the claimants allege they own, other than commonplace musical elements,” states the lawsuit.
Sources: Twitter.com, New York Times, TMZ.com, US Weekly, CNN.com, Hollywood Reporter, Access Hollywood, New York Daily News.
