Marvin Gaye's Children Respond To Lawsuit Filed By Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams And Clifford Harris, Jr.

Creating Billable Hours

In AUGUST (NET NEWS 8/16), ALL ACCESS tipped you that a lawsuit was about to be filed over the "song of the summer" -- ROBIN THICKE's "Blurred Lines." THICKE, along with PHARRELL WILLIAMS and CLIFFORD HARRIS JR. filed the lawsuit against [MARVIN] GAYE's family and BRIDGEPORT MUSIC. The move was in response to threatened legal action on the part of GAYE's family and BRIDGEPORT, claiming the song has similarities between GAYE's "Got To Give It Up" and FUNKADELIC's "Sexy Ways," which BRIDGEPORT represents.

Keeping the lawyers busy, the children of the late MARVIN GAYE have responded in U.S. District Court to the lawsuit. According to MARK LEVINSOHN, the NEW YORK entertainment attorney who represents NONA and FRANKIE GAYE in transactional matters, THICKE and his collaborators sued to stop any claims they thought the children of MARVIN GAYE may or would have against their intentional copyright infringement of the Marvin Gaye song "Got to Give it Up."

Initially GAYE's children assumed that THICKE and WILLIAMS had obtained a license from EMI/SONY to use their father's song, but were told that no license was granted, nor was any license needed.

"We have put a lot of effort into this matter, investigated it thoroughly, and believe we have a strong case," said NASHVILLE and SAN DIEGO-based KING & BALLOW lawyer RICHARD S. BUSCH, who is litigation counsel for the GAYE children. "The counterclaim and court filing speak for themselves, and I look forward to presenting this case to the court and ultimately to a jury who will be able to listen to the songs themselves."

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