Last week, Robin Thicke was among several plaintiffs who “reluctantly” (you don’t often see that word used in a complaint like this) filed a declaratory judgment action against defendants including Marvin Gaye estate seeking a determination that Thicke’s hit song, Blurred Lines, does not infringe Gaye’s Got to Give it Up. Other claims also are pending. The complaint can be accessed here. You can compare the two songs yourself at the Hollywood Reporter website, here.
Interestingly, the compalint also challenges Gaye’s standing to sue based on any alleged copyright infringement of the song, Got to Give It Up.
If you were the judge in this case, how would you rule? Does the Thicke song only evoke the style of Gaye’s? Or is it a copy?