Marvin Gaye's family celebrated yesterday when a jury announced it had found Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams guilty of copyright infringement for the hit song "Blurred Lines," and that the pair would pay $7.4 million to the late soul singer's estate. The family demonstrated a day later that it wasn't messing around, declaring that it would look to ban further sales of the song.
"We'll be asking the court to enter an injunction prohibiting the further sale and distribution of 'Blurred Lines' unless and until we can reach an agreement with those guys on the other side about how future monies that are received will be shared," attorney Richard Busch told Rolling Stone. "We'll be doing that in about a week or so."
That's a smart move on behalf of the Gaye's side. Although it has clearly been determined that Thicke and Williams borrowed heavily and improperly from Gaye's "Got To Give It Up," the legal proceedings to place Gaye's name on the credits hasn't taken place yet. This move will give a major boost to his estate during negotiations.
There would usually be an unbelievable amount of haggling during such a process: The Gayes will suggest a certain percentage and the reps for Thicke and Williams will offer a lower one. This could go on for weeks. If the pair can't make any money off the song until an agreement is reached however-as the injunction would cause-that might cause the duo to buckle more quickly. Williams has money coming in from elsewhere but Thicke has struggled since the lawsuit began during 2013. He needs the bestselling song of 2013 on the market, to some degree.
No potential number has been suggested by the Gaye estate as of yet. Expect Thicke and Williams to cough up a significant chunk of royalties in the future however as the Gaye's may insist they've got to give it up.
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