Pharrell: 'Blurred' verdict was 'shocking'

[didymus]

USA Today:

Pharrell: ‘Blurred’ verdict was 'shocking’

Pharrell Williams rang in the United Nations’ World Happiness Day on Friday, but there was a cloud in his sky: that *Blurred Lines *verdict.Williams told Access Hollywood he thinks the jury made an emotional decision, misunderstanding copyright infringement.
“It was shocking,” said Williams of the verdict, which awarded the Marvin Gaye estate $7.3 million for copyright infringement on the song Got to Give It Up.

But, “I think, when you look back at it, I think the jury voted on emotion,” he added. “This is my opinion – I feel like the verdict was based on emotion and not the real true issue, which was copyright infringement.”
The singer/songwriter also warned how the verdict could affect all creative industries.

“The verdict handicaps any creator out there who is making something that might be inspired by something else,” Williams told the Financial Times on Thursday. “This applies to fashion, music, design… anything. If we lose our freedom to be inspired, we’re going to look up one day and the entertainment industry as we know it will be frozen in litigation. This is about protecting the intellectual rights of people who have ideas.”

The verdict is ridiculous, even more so the fact that the jury was not allowed to hear the two songs.

Now that we have, in effect, perpetual copyright, we’ll see more and more lawsuits like this. Check out Spider Robinson’s story Melancholy Elephants.

 

[EmperorNapoleon]

The verdict is ridiculous, even more so the fact that the jury was not allowed to hear the two songs.

I disagree. Thicke publicly stated that the song was “inspired” by Marvin Gaye then preemptively sued the Gaye family in an attempt to nullify their copyright as it pertains to “Blurred Lines.” He was also the one who filed the motion to prevent Marvin Gaye’s song from being played at trial. Its pretty clear, to me anyway, that Thicke and Williams knew from the beginning that they’d taken and used copyrighted elements.