Copyright Verdict Against Robin Thicke Hit ‘Blurred Lines’ Stands (1)

A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’s 2013 hit song “Blurred Lines” infringed a copyright in a 1977 Marvin Gaye song.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled March 21 that Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” was entitled to broad copyright protection, and that there was enough evidence in the record to justify a 2013 jury verdict in favor of Gaye’s heirs.

“This is very shocking,” copyright lawyer James G. Sammataro of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, Miami, told Bloomberg Law. “I think the general consensus has been ...