"Blurred Lines" plagiarism dispute should be settled in court as ruled by U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt.
"Blurred Lines", a 2013 monster hit by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams lost over Marvin Gaye's family who claims that the song steals parts of Gaye's 1977 hit "Got to Give It Up".
Thicke and Williams appealed for a motion to reject the plagiarism complaints filed by the Gaye family but after U.S. Judge Kronstadt reviewed conflicting analyses by experts hired by Thicke and Williams and Gaye's children to evaluate the two songs, Kronstadt denied the motion. This decision means that the Gaye family can proceed to file a lawsuit against the two singers.
The two musicians had wanted a ruling that "Blurred Lines" did not invade any copyrights on the Gaye song. However, Kronstadt determined there is a genuine dispute about whether several musical elements are similar with the two songs. These elements include signature phrases, hooks, bass lines, keyboard chords and vocal melodies.
In a statement Kronstadt said, "The Gaye family have made a sufficient showing that elements of "Blurred Lines" may be substantially similar to protected, original elements of "Got to Give It Up." Defendants have identified these with particularity for purposes of analytic dissection."
Kronstadt's ruling says that an analysis should be made by the jury not in the way to two songs sound to listeners but by the compositions that appear on the music sheet of "Blurred Lines" and "Got to Give It Up".
The dispute started when "Blurred Lines" became a hit last year. It urged Thicke and Williams to file a lawsuit in September 2014 when they received threats from Gaye's family, reported Billboard Biz.
"Blurred Lines" controversy's trial is scheduled to start on February 10, 2015.
