The legal fight for the 2013 summer hit Blurred Lines isn’t over yet for its songwriters Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, as lawyers for the two have filed to overturn the copyright infringement verdict against them.
Their lawyers filed a brief with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal Wednesday, which contends that the March 2015 case should have never gone to trial and the verdict should be overturned, or a new trial should be ordered.
“What happened instead was a cascade of legal errors warranting this court’s reversal or vacatur for new trial,” the open brief reads.
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The case looked at whether or not Thicke and Williams, who both performed on the track with rapper T.I., copied Marvin Gaye’s song Got to Give It Up.
Jurors were only supposed to consider if Blurred Lines improperly copied notes from Gaye’s sheet music.
However, Thicke and Williams’ attorneys believe the judge presiding over the case gave jurors several improper instructions.
Jurors sided with Gay’s family and agreed to award nearly $7.4 million. Later, however, the verdict was trimmed to $5.3 million. The family originally sought approximately $25 million in alleged damages.
“We obviously believe the jury and district judge who confirmed the jury’s findings were correct in finding infringement,” the Gaye family’s attorney, Richard Busch, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “Many of these same arguments now contained in their opening brief were raised and rejected by the district judge, and our own opening responsive brief will contain what we believe will be very strong replies to each and every point they raise.”
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The family also received a 50 per cent interest in ongoing royalties from Blurred Lines.
This isn’t the first time Thicke and Williams’ attorneys have contested the verdict. Following the trial, their lawyers filed for an appeal, which was rejected.
Having dominated the charts at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks, the song was deemed Billboard’s Song of the Summer in 2013. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the song generated over $16.6 million in profits.
With files from The Associated Press
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