He said that working with Cyrus bled into “Blurred Lines,” since he had been planning on doing a country-esque song with her. “I’m really grateful,” Janis Gaye, Marvin’s former wife and the mother of Nona and Frankie and stepmother of Marvin Gaye III, told the Times. At the time he was working with Thicke, he said he was also working with Miley Cyrus and Earl Sweatshirt in the same studio. The ruling was made based upon established precedent that had been in place for years. Twice. “In reality, the Gaye defendants are claiming ownership of an entire genre, as opposed to a specific work, and Bridgeport is claiming the same work.” (“Sexy Ways” was dropped from the lawsuit last March after the parties reached a mutual agreement. The decision, which hinged on the fact that Gaye’s family owned only elements of the sheet music to “Got to Give It Up,” came from eight jurors who listened to testimony from musicologists, as well as Thicke and Williams. That's because the song was excellent and will continue to garner streams and spins, so Gaye’s family stands to profit considerably from the usage and future usage if the song continues to circulate. While Thicke was able to perform the songs, the Gayes were not allowed to play the recorded version of “Got to Give It Up” since the copyright they were defending applied to sheet music. Her work has appeared in Vice, Pitchfork, Essence, GOOD, Marie Claire and Chicago magazine. Both are arguing that their side is good for creators. ), The Gaye estate, which represents the singer’s children Frankie and Nona, fired back two months later, claiming Thicke had pilfered not only “Got to Give It Up” but also Gaye’s “After the Dance” and “I Want You” on Thicke’s 2011 album Love After War. Adrienne Samuels Gibbs is an award-winning, multi-platform editor, writer and journalist who specializes in arts, culture and entertainment. He added, "It doesn’t change copyright law. The trial kicked off in February of this year. In this key area of melodic content, there doesn’t appear to be evidence that would suggest plagiarism on the part of Robin Thicke.". Billboard Staff Marvin Gaye's family has accused Thicke's smash single of plagiarizing "Got To Give It Up," the R&B legend's 1977 dance single which he wrote and composed. He and co-songwriter Pharrell Williams must pay Gaye’s family $7.3 million as part of the ruling, according to Variety. UPDATE: A lawyer for the estate of Marvin Gaye tells Rolling Stone that he will try to block all future sales of “Blurred Lines” until an agreement is reached. Cookie Settings He further testified that he wrote nearly every lyric and melody on “Blurred Lines.”, Williams also shrugged off the notion that the “Blurred Lines” lyrics “Shake around, get up, get down” closely resembled the line “Move it up, turn it round, shake it down” on “Got to Give It Up.” “In the average black family of the Seventies, that’s what we do when a song comes on,” he said, according to THR.