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Robin Thicke Sued by Marvin Gaye Family Members over “Blurred Lines”

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Facebook.com/RobinThickeOver the summer, Robin Thicke filed a preemptive lawsuit against the family of Marvin Gaye in an attempt to establish that his hit “Blurred Lines” does not borrow from the legendary singer’s tune “Got To Give It Up.” Clearly, at least a few of Gaye’s family members do not agree.

Two of Gaye’s children have filed suit against Robin and his “Blurred Lines” collaborators Pharrell and T.I., accusing them of copyright infringement, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The complaint doesn’t just focus on Robin’s summer smash, either. Nona Marvisa Gaye and Frankie Christian Gaye also claim Robin ripped off their father’s song “After the Dance” in his track “Love After War.” Furthermore, they suggest Robin has a “Marvin Gaye fixation” that’s apparent in some of his other music.

The lawsuit contends the record label EMI has ties to both Gaye and Thicke, and that it breached its contract by failing to protect Gaye’s music. The plaintiffs argued that EMI should lose all of its profits from “Blurred Lines” as a result.

An attorney for Thicke tells The Hollywood Reporter, “Obviously, EMI, which is in the business of collecting substantial sums for actual infringements, regardless of the publishing affiliations of the infringers, consulted their own expert musicologists who gave the same opinion our 3 musicologists gave: The genres of the songs are the same, the notes are different. So whether or not plaintiffs are fans of Marvin Gaye is irrelevant; no infringement occurred here.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio


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