Robin Thicke files copyright lawsuit against Marvin Gaye's family

HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and Clifford Harris Jr. filed a lawsuit in California against Marvin Gaye's family in a dispute over copyright infringement.

Gaye's family and Bridgeport Music, which owns some of Funkadelic's compositions, have been threatening litigation over Thicke's "Blurred Lines," saying the song bears too close a similarity to Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" and Funkadelic's "Sexy Ways," The Hollywood Reporter said.

Before the Gaye family and Bridgeport could file a lawsuit, Thicke, along with Williams and Harris, who are featured on "Blurred Lines," filed a suit saying Gaye's family and Bridgeport can't claim ownership over an entire genre of music.

"Plaintiffs, who have the utmost respect for and admiration of Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic and their musical legacies, reluctantly file this action in the face of multiple adverse claims from alleged successors in interest to those artists. Defendants continue to insist that plaintiffs' massively successful composition, 'Blurred Lines,' copies 'their' compositions," the lawsuit, filed Thursday said.

"But there are no similarities between plaintiffs' composition and those the claimants allege they own, other than commonplace musical elements," states the lawsuit. "Plaintiffs created a hit and did it without copying anyone else's composition."