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  • Marvin Gaye Heirs Face Counterclaim in “Blurred Lines” Legal Battle

    Robin Thicke’s summer hit, “Blurred Lines” has come under fire this week, and the heirs of Marvin Gaye definitely aren’t happy. According to the court documents filed on Wednesday, Gaye’s children allege that “Blurred Lines” is an ‘illegal rip-off’ of Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit, “Got to Give it Up.”

    The song, which is also the name of Thicke’s sixth studio album, was produced by hip hop legend, Pharrell Williams, and written by rapper Clifford “T.I.” Harris and Robin Thicke, himself. While all three artists are accused of copyright violations, they aren’t the only ones who have come under fire. Gaye’s heirs also placed blame on Sony-ATV. For those who aren’t aware of Sony-ATV’s role in the industry, the company is a music publishing subsidiary owned and operated by Sony Music and the Estate of Michael Jackson.
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    In a nutshell, their role is to manage, distribute, and pay out prospective royalties for records on behalf of performing artists, producers and songwriters. The Gaye family is accusing the company of failure to uphold its responsibility in protecting the copyright of Gaye’s music catalog.
    http://youtu.be/75BlzjqGVcc

    Sony-ATV was contracted by Gaye’s family following his death to manage his music catalog. However, conflict of interest is the crux of the problem in this particular matter. According to CNN, a counterclaim, also filed on Wednesday, revealed that the company also represents Pharrell Williams, which is why Sony-ATV ‘reluctantly’ refused to sue him, Thicke, and Harris when the Gaye family asked them to do so. The counterclaim was filed on behalf of the “Blurred Lines” artists in response to the lawsuit.

    Thicke’s lawsuit also states that there are “no similarities” between the two records other than instrumental and commonplace elements relative to style musicianship. Thicke also argues that his record is not a form of copyright infringement simply because his record reminds listener’s of Gaye’s record.
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    “Blurred Lines” was definitely a chart topping summer hit, holding strong on the Billboard pop charts for a record-breaking 16 weeks. The court documents report that the record’s sales also spoke volumes in regards to its chart-topping status, as it sold more than 6 million copies.

  • Marvin Gaye VS. Robin Thicke Heats Up

    There is some new fuel on the fire that is the battle between Marvin Gaye’s family and Robin Thicke, Pharell Williams, and T.I. The fight over the likeness of several of Thicke’s songs to Marvin Gaye’s began with summer smash “Blurred Lines” sounding a little to close to Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up”, but has gone on to include “Love After War”, which they claim resembles “After the Dance”, according to Billboard.

    Now, there is a new defendant in the the family’s fight to keep Marvin Gaye’s music, well, Marvin Gaye’s. That would be EMI April, the song publisher now owned by Sony/ATV that has business relationships with both sides. They filed a counterclaim which states primarily that EMI has breached a contract and its fiduciary duty by failing to protect Gaye’s songs, attempting to intimidate the family against filing any legal action, failing to remain neutral when faced with a conflict of interest and attempting to turn public opinion against the family. The penalty for those acts, says the Gaye family, should be that EMI loses all profits on “Blurred Lines” as well as rights to administer the song catalog of Gaye.

    EMI is the co-publisher of producing superstar Pharell Williams and is said to co-own and control “Blurred Lines.” The Gaye family owns rights to “Got to Give It Up” and “After the Dance,” but says it has assigned the rights to administer and protect those copyrights to EMI. These facts create a pretty serious conflict of interest.

    In the suit, Gaye’s family also claims that EMI’s “misconduct” includes failing to identify and raise claims based on entrusted Marvin Gaye copyrights, and after allegedly admitting that a claim was viable, “subsequently instructing its litigation attorney to intimidate the Gaye Family from filing an action by antagonistically warning that any lawsuit would be frivolous.”

    Specifically, the Gaye family claims that the chairman of EMI contacted its legal representative and bullied the family, accusing the family of “ruining an incredible song,” “killing the goose that laid the golden egg” and being responsible for “Blurred Lines” not receiving an MTV Video Music Award. He also allegedly complained that the lawsuit might kill any chances that Thicke would win a Grammy Award for Song of the Year.

    After the bullying and the defense of EMI around their “goose”, Robin Thicke, one of the things that the Gaye family is fighting for is the rescission of their contract with EMI. They have had enough and they want out. Their court documents state, “there is a strong likelihood that conflicts of interest, such as the one in the present case, will arise again between the EMI Defendants and the Gaye Family.”

    It goes on to say that “…the EMI Defendants have proven that they cannot be trusted to remain neutral and impartial, and that they are unworthy of the level of trust and professional conduct which is required of a copyright administrator charged with protecting the Gaye Family’s important interests in copyrighted works created by Marvin Gaye.”

    Ouch. This looks to be an ongoing battle that could last a while.

    Image via youtube

  • Marvin Gaye III Encourages Minority Organ Donation

    Marvin Gaye III, 47, is suffering from potential kidney failure. He has recently announced that the disease he has will require a kidney transplant. The adopted eldest son of the late Marvin Gaye said that the preemptive lawsuit brought by Robin Thicke against his late father’s estate was a distraction and was not allowing him to deal very effectively with his medical issues.

    Marvin Gaye’s family was threatening to sue Thicke and his “Blurred Lines” collaborators, claiming their No. 1 song is essentially a remake of Gaye’s 1977 disco hit, “Got To Give It Up.” But then, the “Blurred Lines” collaborators, Robin Thicke, T.I., and Pharrell, took a preemptive strike against Gaye’s heirs by filing a complaint in a California court last month asking a judge to determine that “Blurred Lines” does not copy Gaye’s song or take his composition without credit.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eugx6aZLwuo

    Marvin Gaye III said that he had to spend a lot of time on the defense. He said, “I have a lot of better things to do than to be sitting here trying to defend my father’s legacy, which I’m glad to do because that’s my position in the family.”

    However, The Associated Press reports that he is now leading an organ donation campaign. This particular campaign is meant to encourage Blacks and Hispanics to participate more fully in organ donation programs. Since seeking the transplant, he has become very aware of the difficulties that exist for people in similar circumstances.

    The US Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement saying:

    “African-Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics/Latinos are three times more likely than Caucasians to suffer from end-stage renal disease, often as the result of high blood pressure and other conditions that can damage the kidneys. Almost 35 percent of the more than 95,000 people on the national waiting list for a kidney transplant are African-American.”

    On top of all that is going on for Gaye III, he is also trying to promote his new album. He hopes the album will raise awareness, and money, to support kidney research.

    Image via youtube