Marvin Gaye’s Son Slams Robin Thicke, T.I. & Pharrell over Lawsuit

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

Another Robin Thicke, Marvin Gaye update. Robin Thicke may finally have a hit song on his hands with his current single “Blurred Lines” which also features rapper T.I. and producer Pharrell Williams, but now he also has new legal problems too. As we reported recently, Robin, T.I. and Pharrell have all joined together and filed a lawsuit against the late great Marvin Gaye’s family and Bridgeport Music which owns Funkadelic’s compositions. The artists filed the suit because they claim Marvin’s family and Bridgeport have been threatening to sue them over “Blurred Lines.” According to them, the song sounds a lot like a song from Marvin and Funkadelic. Here’s a summary of the suit:

The trio argues there are no similarities in composition between the three songs but Gaye’s family and Bridgeport are demanding to be paid a monetary settlement, and have been threatening to file a lawsuit. Robin Thicke, T.I. and Pharrell Williams beat them to it and filed the suit to find out their respective rights and obligations per the court. The trio is not only looking for the court to declare their song doesn’t violate the defendants rights by copying their songs but also that the “Gayes do not have an interest in the copyright to the composition ‘Got To Give It Up’ sufficient to confer standing on them to pursue claims of infringement of that composition.”

While all three artists also claimed in the suit filed that they have the utmost respect for Marvin Gaye and his family, Gaye’s son seems to feel otherwise. He recently told E! News he thinks filing the suit was their way of forcing them to “bow down” and he doesn’t feel either artist is showing any respect for Gaye’s legacy:

“There is no artist like my dad was. Because of him, he’s made it possible for a lot of people to make music. Credit needs to be given where credit is due. The lack of respect for the Marvin Gaye name is something people think they can get away with. By them suing us, they want us to bow down and give them what they want.”