In one of the highest profile music-related copyright infringement lawsuits, recording stars Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were slammed with a $7.4 million jury verdict after being accused of plagiarizing their chart topping hit song “Blurred Lines” from Marvin Gaye’s 1977 Motown hit “Got to Give it Up.”
One of the unique legal aspects of the case related to the fact that, at the time Gaye’s hit song “Got to Give it Up” earned its copyright status, only the written music could be registered as protected. At the time, sound recordings from sheet music were not copyright eligible.
