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Pharrell Williams has broken his silence after a jury found he and Robin Thicke improperly borrowed from Marvin Gaye‘s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up” for their 2013 smash “Blurred Lines,” awarding the family of the late soul singer $7.4 million dollars for the copyright infringement.
The hitmaker feels the ruling will have a lasting impact on the creativity of artists. “The verdict handicaps any creator out there who is making something that might be inspired by something else,” Williams said in an interview with The Financial Times.
He continues, “This applies to fashion, music, design… anything. If we lose our freedom to be inspired, we’re going to look up one day and the entertainment industry as we know it will be frozen in litigation. This is about protecting the intellectual rights of people who have ideas. Everything that’s around you in a room was inspired by something or someone. If you kill that, there’s no creativity.”
While Thicke and Williams are planning to appeal the verdict, Marvin Gaye’s family has filed a request for a federal judge to block the sale, distribution and performance of “Burred Lines,” arguing that sales of the song represent continued copyright infringement.
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