Blurring the Copyright Lines
The Brian Lehrer Show | Mar 17, 2015
Last week, a jury found that Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke committed copyright infringement in their hit 2013 song "Blurred Lines." The jury ruled they borrowed from Marvin Gaye's 1977 song "Got to Give It Up," and awarded the Gaye family $7.3 million dollars. Mark Levinsohn, the transactional counsel for the Gaye family, and Richard Busch, a partner at Nashville law firm King & Ballow and the lead litigator in the case, discuss copyright laws and how they police intellectual property in an age where appropriation and reinterpretation is routine. Then, Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu explains why the "Blurred Lines" copyright verdict should be thrown out.
Our producer's reading list:
- Rolling Stone: Tom Petty on Sam Smith Settlement: 'No Hard Feelings. These Things Happen.'
- The New York Times' Jon Caramanica: What's Wrong With the 'Blurred Lines' Copyright Ruling
- Forbes: Top Lawyers on What Songwriters Must Learn From 'Blurred Lines' Verdict
