Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams have been ordered by a judge to pay $5 million to resolve a case in which they were accused of lifting from Marvin Gaye’s song “Got to Give It Up” in their 2013 smash hit “Blurred Lines.” In 2016, Thicke and Williams were ordered to pay over $7 million to Gaye’s family for violating the original song’s copyright, but that ruling was later reduced upon appeal. In addition to the $5 million, 50 percent of future royalties from the song will also be paid to the Gaye family. The battle has been controversial, with Williams arguing that he had purposefully evoked the mood of Gaye’s song but did not directly plagiarize it. The ruling was upheld by two judges against one. The dissenting judge argued that the verdict “strikes a devastating blow to future musicians and composers everywhere.”
