Faced with the prospect of copyright infringement lawsuits from Bridgeport Music, Inc. (“Bridgeport”) and Marvin Gaye’s heirs (the “Heirs”), the composers of the multinational hit song “Blurred Lines” filed a declaratory judgment action against Bridgeport and the Heirs in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on August 15, 2013. Through this action, the composers, namely Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke, and Clifford Harris, Jr., request that the court declare that “Blurred Lines” does not infringe Bridgeport’s composition “Sexy Ways” or Gaye’s composition “Got to Give It Up.”
The lawsuit alleges that Bridgeport and the Heirs have continually insisted that “Blurred Lines” infringes their respective compositions and have stated an intention to file a lawsuit for copyright infringement if not compensated. The composers, however, claim that “[t]here are no similarities between plaintiffs’ composition and those the claimants allege they own, other than commonplace musical elements.” Instead, according to the suit, the composers “created a hit and did it without copying anyone else’s composition.”
Generally, to establish a claim for copyright infringement a plaintiff must establish: (1) copying of a prior copyrighted work; and (2) a substantial similarity to the prior copyrighted work sufficient to constitute unlawful appropriation. A plaintiff can generally demonstrate the first element based upon evidence of access to the copyrighted work and similarity. Here, it does not seem to be disputed that the composers had access to “Sexy Ways” or “Got to Give It Up.” Indeed, according to the suit, the “intent in producing ‘Blurred Lines’ was to evoke an era.” The question remains, however, whether the similarities between “Blurred Lines” and the prior works are sufficient to demonstrate “copying” and “substantial similarity.”
To date, neither Bridgeport nor the Heirs have filed an answer to the composers’ complaint.