On July 11, 2018, the Ninth Circuit refused to overturn a ruling that “Blurred Lines” infringed Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.”
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, along with the Recording Industry Association of America, had urged the appeals court to overturn an earlier ruling in Gaye’s estates’ favor warning “it would allow more expansive claims of copyright protection and chill musical creativity.” However, the appeals court did not grant their request. The court did issue an amended opinion; the new version did not include a paragraph about copyright law’s inverse ratio rule, but was otherwise the same as its previous ruling.
One dissenting judge stated the majority’s ruling would establish “a dangerous precedent that strikes a devastating blow to future musicians and composers everywhere.” For now, it shall remain as such.
The case is Williams et al. v. Gaye et al., case number 15-56880, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
* Lowe & Associates (“The Firm”) is a boutique entertainment and business litigation firm located in Beverly Hills, California. The Firm has extensive experience handling cases involving copyright law. Managing partner Steven T. Lowe has authored the “Death of Copyright” trilogy, the latest article of which, entitled “Death of Copyright 3: The Awakening,” was published in this summer’s Los Angeles Lawyer magazine. https://lowelaw.com/press
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