Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams Copied Marvin Gaye’s Song for ‘Blurred Lines’: Jury

A jury in Los Angeles ordered song writers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams to pay $7.3 million to the Gaye family after the duo were found guilty of copyright infringement on Tuesday.

The landmark judgement comes as a major victory for Marvin Gaye's children when they accused Thicke and Pharrell of copying their fathers 1977 hit "Got to Give it Up."

Blurred Lines was number 1 on Billboard charts for 10 consecutive weeks in 2013, raking in close to $16.5 million in profits.

Following the verdict, Marvin Gaye's daughter Nona said, "Right now, I feel free. Free from ... Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke's chains and what they tried to keep on us and the lies that were told."

When Marvin Gaye died in 1984, he passed the copyrights of his music to his children.

Thicke, Williams and T.I took credit for co-writing the song in several interviews and even pre-emptively sued the Gaye family in August last year after they started complaining about similarities between both songs.

The Gaye family in return countersued not only for coping Blurred Lines but also for copyright infringement to "After the Dance" for the title track of "Love After War" in the 2011 album.

Intellectual property attorney Larry Iser was critical of the verdict and said, "Unfortunately, today's jury verdict has blurred the lines between protectable elements of a musical composition and the unprotectable musical style or groove exemplified by Marvin Gaye."

"Although Gaye was the Prince of Soul, he didn't own a copyright to the genre, and Thicke and Williams' homage to the feel of Marvin Gaye is not infringing."

The verdict could tarnish the reputation of Pharrell Williams who has emerged to become a reliable hitmaker over the last few years.