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CHARLES SYKES/INVISION/AP
FILE - This July 30, 2013 file photo shows Robin Thicke performing on NBC's "Today" show in New York. An attorney for Thicke and collaborator Pharrell Williams filed a lawsuit Thursday, Aug. 16, 2013, in Los Angeles, asking a federal judge to determine that the pair?s hit song ?Blurred Lines? does not copy elements from two older songs by Marvin Gaye and George Clinton. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES >> Robin Thicke is asking a federal judge to determine his song “Blurred Lines” doesn’t copy from elements of two other songs.
Attorneys for Thicke and the song’s collaborators, Pharrell Williams and T.I., filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Thursday asking a judge to determine their song does not copy songs composed by Marvin Gaye and George Clinton.
“Plaintiffs created a hit and did it without copying anyone else’s composition,” the lawsuit reads.
The suit states representatives of the owners of copyrights to Gaye’s song “Got to Give It Up” and Clinton’s song “Sexy Ways” have warned Thicke that he and his collaborators have used elements of the songs in “Blurred Lines.”
“The basis of the Gaye defendants’ claims is that ‘Blurred Lines’ and ‘Got to Give It Up’ ‘feel’ or ‘sound’ the same,” the lawsuit states. “Being reminiscent of a ‘sound’ is not copyright infringement. The intent in producing ‘Blurred Lines’ was to evoke an era.”
Representatives for Thicke and one of the defendants, Gaye’s son Marvin Gaye III, didn’t immediately reply to emails seeking comment.
“Blurred Lines” is spending its 10th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. It has sold 4.6 million tracks. The song’s music video features nude models prowling around Thicke, Williams and T.I. It has more than 137 million views and helped propel the song to the top of the charts.
