'Blurred Lines' verdict: Thicke, Pharrell to pay $7.4M in copyright case

After two weeks in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the "Blurred Lines" copyright infringement trial has finally come to an end. The eight member jury voted unanimously that Robin Thicke and song producer Pharrell Williams had infringed on the 1977 Marvin Gaye song "Got To Give It Up."

The jury found that Thicke and Williams had infringed on the tune, but not T.I. The eight jurors also determined that the infringement was not willful, but also not innocent.

The jury awarded the Gaye family $4 million in damages, with profits of more than $1,600,000 from William and more that $1,760 from Thicke.

Also Read: 'Blurred Lines' Trial Nearly Doubles Sales of Disputed Marvin Gaye Song

Overall, the Gayes were awarded just shy of $7.4 million.

An audible gasp was heard in the courtroom as the verdict was read.

"We did not start this fight…Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke started this lawsuit," Richard Busch, attorney for the Gayes, said outside of the courthouse after the verdict was handed down.

Also Read: 'Blurred Lines' Trial Reveals Pharrell Williams-Robin Thicke Song Made $16.6 Million

Busch added that he expects an appeal on the verdict, but believes that Thicke and Williams do not have a basis for appeal.

Thicke initially filed a preemptive lawsuit against relatives of Marvin Gaye in 2013, after the family claimed that "Blurred Lines" copied Gaye's song. Gaye's relatives subsequently filed a countersuit against singer Thicke, producer Williams and rapper T.I., claiming their chart-topping single ripped off Gaye's 1977 song.

During the trial, it was revealed that "Blurred Lines" sales exceeded $16 million with Thicke and Williams having made over $5 million each; T.I. earned more than $700,000.

Statutory damages of $9,375 were assessed.

On the stand, however, Thicke stated that he was high on vodka and Vicodin during all of those interviews.

Williams testified that he only realized he had channeled the older single after having released "Blurred Lines." He claimed any similarities were not pre-conceived.

Thicke also said on the stand that he has been referred to as "the white Marvin Gaye," and he embellished his interviews once people started telling him that "Blurred Lines" was similar to "Got To Give It Up."

None of the Gaye children took the stand. But Jan Gaye, Marvin's ex-wife, and mother of Nona and Frankie and stepmother to Marvin III, testified that when she first heard "Blurred Lines" she liked it and was thankful that it was breathing new life into "Got To Give It Up," to which she had contributed vocals and told the court was one of Marvin Gaye's personal favorites.

She had initially tweeted a thank you to Williams and Thicke. However she said, on the stand, that at that time, she assumed "Blurred Lines" had been properly licensed from "Got To Give It Up."

Gaye's three children, Nona, Frankie and Marvin III also claimed that Thicke and his former wife Paula Patton, with whom he co-wrote the 2011 single "Love After War," infringed upon Marvin Gaye's 1976 song "After the Dance."

The Gaye children own the copyright to the Marvin Gaye sheet music registered with the Copyright Office. The commercial sound recording of "Got To Give It Up" was determined by the judge to be inadmissible evidence and it was not played during the trial beyond modified versions which the judge allowed. "Blurred Lines," however, was played in court several times.

During one unusual and lively day at the trial, Thicke used a keyboard to play a medley of songs by U2, Alphaville and The Beatles to show that you can use similar chords to create many different songs.

In closing arguments, each side accused the other of using distractions and confusion to detract from the real issues in the case. While the Gayes' attorney said it was patently obvious to anyone who has heard "Blurred Lines" that it is a copy of "Got To Give It Up," lawyers for the Thick party said you can not copyright a groove or an era.