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After writing the hit song, “Blurred Lines,” songwriters Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were sued by the family of the late Marvin Gaye, saying the song was too similar to Gaye’s song, “Got to Give it Up (Part I).” The judge in the case awarded the estate of Marvin Gaye $7.3 million. Copyright lawyer Dr. E. Michael Harrington, who was interviewed for the case and is currently involved in the appeal of the decision, says it was the worst example of a copyright infringement accusation that he’s ever seen. The only commonalities between the songs, Harrington argues, was the “feel” of both songs. Harrington further argues that there was no duplication of chord change, melodies, or rhythm, and there weren’t even any samples of “Got to Give it Up (Part I)” featured in “Blurred Lines.”
About E. Michael Harrington:
Dr. E. Michael Harrington is a professor in music copyright and intellectual property matters. He has lectured at many law schools, organizations, and music conferences throughout North America, including Harvard Law, George Washington University Law, Hollywood Bar Association, Texas Bar, Minnesota Bar, Houston Law Center, Brooklyn Law, BC Law, Loyola Law, NYU, McGill, Eastman, Emory, the Experience Music Project, Future of Music Coalition, Pop Montreal, and others. Michael has worked as a consultant and expert witness in hundreds of music copyright matters including efforts to return "We Shall Overcome" and "This Land Is Your Land" to the public domain, and has worked with director Steven Spielberg, producer Mark Burnett, the Dixie Chicks, Steve Perry, Busta Rhymes, Samsung, Keith Urban, HBO, T-Pain, T. I., Snoop Dogg, Collin Raye, Tupac Shakur, Lady Gaga, George Clinton, Mariah Carey, and others. He sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Popular Culture, advisory board of the Future of Music Coalition and the Creators Freedom Project, and is a member of Leadership Music. Michael has been interviewed by the New York Times, CNN, Bloomberg Law, Wall Street Journal, Time, Huffington Post, Billboard, USA Today, Rolling Stone, Money Magazine, Investor's Business Daily, People Magazine, Life Magazine, and Washington Post, in addition to BRAVO, PBS, ABC News, NBC's "Today Show," the Biography Channel, NPR, CBC and others. He teaches Music Business Capstone and Music Licensing courses at Berklee Online.
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Copyright for Musicians: Revisiting the Blurred Lines Copyright Case | Part 6/6 | Q&A | Music Business | E. Michael Harrington | Berklee Online | Berklee College of Music