Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams aren’t going to let $7.4m just slip out of their hands. The pair’s lawyers are now calling for a new trial in the case that saw them ruled to have taken from Marvin Gaye’s Got to Give It Up to create their global smash hit single.
In March, a Los Angeles jury decided in favour of Gaye’s family, deciding that Blurred Lines had borrowed from the soul legend’s 1977 song. The pair were ordered to pay $7.4m by the jury. But lawyers for Thicke and Williams argue that errors in the original trial mean the case should be heard again.
They say the judge’s ruling that the case should be limited to the sheet music of the two songs was not adhered to, meaning “prejudicial and irrelevant” elements were brought in to play: both Thicke’s statements about his influences in the song and the testimony of the musicologist Judith Finell fall under that umbrella, they say.
Their motion to US district judge John Kronstadt says: “Although many of Counter-Defendants’ objections were sustained and much of Ms Finell’s testimony was stricken after it was given, the net effect of this cumbersome process was extremely prejudicial to Counter-Defendants: (1) the jury likely concluded that Counter-Defendants were overly concerned by Ms Finell’s testimony or were desiring to obstruct and delay the proceedings; (2) Ms Finell was able to present to the jury testimony, demonstratives, and music that the jury never should have seen or heard; and, (3) the jury faced an impossible task of having to constantly distinguish between the select parts of what they saw and heard each day that they could consider later in reaching their verdict, and the parts they could not.”
They believe the confusing nature of the instructions the jury members were given led them into giving an incorrect verdict.
They have also protested about the amount of damages awarded in the case, pointing out that Williams was ordered to pay more than twice the profits he made from the song, and that their own musicologist pointed out that less than 5% of Blurred Lines could be traced to Got to Give It Up.
The Gaye family, meanwhile, have their own motions for consideration. They are asking for record companies to be held accountable when artists plagiarise, and for Blurred Lines to be taken out of circulation until a final settlement is reached – or for Williams and Thicke to sign over 50% of all future revenues from the song.
Judge Kronstadt will consider these motions at a hearing on 29 June. Whether or not a new trial is scheduled, Williams and Thicke are certain to appeal against the original verdict.
