Thicke and Skateboard P ordered to cough up some serious bank
Just under two years ago, Robin Thicke released a song, “Blurred Lines,” featuring Pharrell and T.I. that would serve as the lead single for his July 2013 album of the same name. The song, which didn’t immediately gain traction, went on to become the song of the summer, and 2013’s biggest hit, spending 12 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 100. Yes, the song was #1 for 3 straight months.
Unfortunately, everything wasn’t all peaches for Thicke and company. Marvin Gaye‘s family pointed out that the hit-making trio inappropriately borrowed from Gaye’s classic “Got To Give It Up” record without permission, and filed a lawsuit against Thicke, and over a year’s worth of litigations began.
Today, the Associated Press is reporting that a jury has found Robin Thicke guilty of copying the Marvin Gaye record, and has ordered that Thicke and Williams pay over $7.3 million to Marvin Gaye’s children, who allege that Pharrell, who wrote the majority of the song in 2012, shamelessly infringed on Gaye’s copyrights in his implementation of “Got To Give It Up.”
Williams testified that Gaye’s music was the soundtrack to his youth, but it did little to change the minds of the jury.