The ‘Blurred Lines’ Legal Battle Explained: What Comes Next
A jury might have ruled in favor of Marvin Gaye‘s family in the highly publicized “Blurred Lines” lawsuit, but the legal battle continues. As he promised, Richard Busch, the attorney representing the Gaye family, filed a post-trial motion to stop the sales of the Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and T.I. song so they could negotiate future revenue shares. He also filed a motion asking for a judge to make T.I. and labels associated with Universal Music Group liable along with the other “Blurred Lines” writers after the jury removed them from its ruling.
“This case is far from over,” Howard King, the lawyer for Thicke, Williams and T.I., wrote in a new motion, asking the judge to slow things down and dismiss the Gaye family’s filings. “It is merely entering a new phase.”
The drama surrounding the case is still unfolding fast, making it difficult to keep track of all the moving parts. An even bigger chore is translating the legalese into easy-to-understand terms. With that, Rolling Stone spoke to multiple lawyers and industry figures connected to the case to lay out the facts about what lies ahead.
Robin Thicke, Pharrell and T.I. might not be done with court just yet.
The jury’s decision covered only past sales of “Blurred Lines” and did not award the Gayes a revenue percentage going forward. In paperwork filed by Busch, the lawyer representing Nona Gaye, Frankie Gaye and Marvin Gaye III, he claims his clients may have to “re-litigate the infringement at least every three years,” because of the Copyright act’s statute of limitations. A set royalty would nip that in the bud.
The Gayes want to erase “Blurred Lines”…for now.
Busch filed a motion asking a judge to stop all sales of “Blurred Lines” while they negotiate a writing credit for Marvin Gaye on the song so the late singer’s family can share in future revenues. Here’s where it gets tricky: The Gayes’ win covers the copyright to the composition “Blurred Lines,” but not the recording. Since the record labels – which include Universal Music Group and Pharrell Williams‘ Star Trak – are distributing a recording of the composition, the lawyer says they are contributing to Williams’ and Thicke’s infringement.
In one of the more confusing turns in the Gayes’ injunction request, their lawyer claims that Universal should not be allowed to distribute the song without the Gayes’ consent, since they’ve established a copyright stake in it. Even though the “Blurred Lines” jury found Universal not guilty of infringement – since their copyright pertains to the sound recording and not the composition itself – Busch says the Gayes have a right to weigh in on how the composition gets distributed.
To get an injunction, Busch will have to show that the Gayes are suffering “irreparable harm.” In the filing, he claims that the “Blurred Lines” team would continue to infringe on Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” unless the court steps in. One thing stopping an injunction could be Busch’s desire for his clients to get a royalty on “Blurred Lines,” since it might constitute a solution.