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 By a 2-1 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Gaye's
1977 song "Got to Give It Up" deserved "broad" copyright
protection, and the March 2015 jury verdict in favor of Gaye's
three children could stand because there was "not an absolute
absence of evidence" of similarity between the two songs.
Circuit Judge Milan Smith also upheld an award of 50 percent of
future royalties from "Blurred Lines" 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 "Blurred Lines," should not be liable.
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.
The "Blurred Lines" 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 "I
Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "What's Going On." Gaye was
fatally shot by his father in 1984 at age 44.
Wednesday's decision prompted a strong dissent from Circuit
Judge Jacqueline Nguyen, who said the decision let the Gayes
"accomplish what no one has before: copyright a musical style,"
and expanded the potential for further copyright litigation.
"That is the consequence of the majority's uncritical deference
to music experts," she wrote.
Howard King, a lawyer for Thicke and Williams, said the dissent
"enhances the prospects" his clients may prevail in an appeal.
"These are two entirely different songs," he said.
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"We are thrilled," Richard Busch, the Gayes' lawyer, said in an
interview. "The decision protects songwriters, and encourages new
songwriters to create original works themselves."
Two of Gaye's children, Frankie and Nona, called the decision "a
victory for the rights of all musicians."
Williams, whose songs also include "Happy," admitted in court to
being a Gaye fan since childhood but said "Blurred Lines" and "Got
to Give it Up" were similar in genre only.
Thicke has in interviews acknowledged drawing on Gaye's song but
maintained in sworn statements that he exaggerated his contribution
to "Blurred Lines."
Song theft lawsuits have proliferated in recent years.
This month, for example, Miley Cyrus was accused of stealing her
2013 hit "We Can't Stop" from a 1988 work by a Jamaican songwriter.
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 "Stairway to Heaven."
The case is Williams et al v Gaye et al, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals, No. 15-56880.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Rosalba
O'Brien and Steve Orlofsky)
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