rejected the idea that the verdict would harm creativity, and suggested that the case hinged more on the skills of lawyers: “Far from heralding the end of musical creativity as we know it,” Judge Smith wrote, “our decision, even construed broadly, reads more accurately as a cautionary tale for future trial counsel wishing to maximize their odds of success.” Yet in the majority opinion, Judge Milan D. They reversed a decision that had also assigned liability to the rapper T.I., who contributed to the song, and Interscope Records, which released it. In a ruling that for the most part was concerned with procedural issues, the judges upheld most of the trial court’s decision and its damages award of $5.3 million.

For example, even before the “Blurred Lines” verdict was announced, Sam Smith willingly shared credit for his hit “Stay With Me” after Tom Petty said it sounded like his song “I Won’t Back Down.” Since the dispute over “Blurred Lines” began, there have been several prominent settlements over credit and royalties. Thicke and Pharrell Williams, who helped write and record the song, disputed that claim, and in the wider music industry, many worried that suit went too far in trying to protect generic elements of a song’s style and “feel.”Ī victory, opponents of the case warned, could lead more litigation and have a chilling effect on creativity. The family of Gaye, who died in 1984, argued that “Got to Give It Up” was copied without permission, and that it had helped make “Blurred Lines” the biggest hit of 2013. When the case went to trial in 2015, it became a flash point in the music industry over the limits of copyright. In the music industry’s most closely watched copyright case, a federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a jury’s finding that Robin Thicke’s song “Blurred Lines” infringed on the copyright of Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.”

Song lines with images