‘Blurred Lines’ Copyright Suit Against Robin Thicke, Pharrell Ends in $5M Judgment

A judge has entered a nearly $5 million judgment against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams in favor of Marvin Gaye’s family in the long-running lawsuit involving copyright infringement surrounding Thicke and Williams’ song “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up,” Billboard reports.

In 2016, Williams and Thicke appealed a verdict that awarded $5.3 million in damages (the initial March 2015 jury verdict resulted in a $7.3 million award, but the judge agreed to cut that to $5.3 million), seeking to overturn the ruling, but a federal appeals court upheld the verdict in March 2018.

According to California federal judge John A. Kronstadt’s new amended judgment, Thicke, Williams and Williams’ More Water From Nazareth Publishing Inc. are jointly required to pay Gaye’s family. They jointly owe damages of $2,848,846.50. Meanwhile, Thicke has been ordered to pay an additional $1,768,191.88 and Williams and his publishing company will pay another $357,630.97 to the Gaye family.

Additionally, The Gaye family is entitled to receive prejudgment interest on the damages award and respective profits against each of them, which totals to $9097.51. The Gaye family is also entitled to royalties going forward for 50 percent of the songwriter and publishing revenue coming from “Blurred Lines.”