The ‘Blurred Lines’ Lawsuit Against Pharrell And Robin Thicke Ends In Judge Ordering Them To Pay $5 Million To Marvin Gaye’s Family
Case and point: It was five years ago when the family of the late Marvin Gaye sued Pharrell and Robin Thicke over the copyright of their hit song “Blurred Lines”. The duo had been accused of copyright infringement for the 2013 hit single because of the alleged similarities to Marvin’s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up.”
Well, that’s FINALLY over now as a judge has determined that Pharrell and Robin are going to have to pay up, $5 million to be exact, according to CNN. The suit would have been done-zo in 2015 when Pharrell and Robin were ordered to pay more than $7 million, but that judgment had been reduced to $5.3 million and the pair appealed the verdict.
In the recent judgment issued by U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt in California, Robin, Pharrell, and Pharrell’s More Water From Nazareth Publishing are jointly required to pay Gaye’s family damages of nearly $2.9 million.
Additionally, Robin Thicke was ordered to pay more than $1.7 million and Pharrell and his publishing company must pay $357,631 in separate awards to Gaye’s estate.
The ruling also awarded Gaye’s family prejudgment interest on the damages and 50 percent of the royalties from “Blurred Lines” moving forward. So basically, his family will eat off the song for life!
It was also ruled that each party was responsible for its own legal fees over this five-year battle.
Reps for Pharrell and Robin Thicke have not made a public comment on the settlement.