The children of the late R&B singer and songwriter Marvin Gaye have filed their summary judgment papers in a lawsuit against singer Robin Thicke and producer Pharrell Williams over the allegedly infringing song "Blurred Lines."
In filing their papers on Monday, Nona Gaye, Frankie Gaye and Marvin Gaye III also included an audio mash-up of Thicke's hugely successful 2013 hit and their father's 1977 song "Got to Give It Up," says a story by Hollywood Reporter.
The blend, they say, is meant to act as "concrete musical illustrations of the substantial similarities" between the two songs.
The Gayes, in their summary judgment bid, also refer to recorded depositions and media interviews given by Thicke and Williams, which they say should corroborate their copyright claims.
Thicke and Williams had preempted such claims when they filed a lawsuit in August 2013 that seeks a declaration of non-infringement. They said they filed the lawsuit to protect "Blurred Lines" from Marvin Gaye's family, says a 2013 report by Hollywood Reporter.
The artists eventually submitted their own summary judgment papers last July, which says the Gayes "smelled money and rushed to make their infringement demand," according to a report by Hollywood Reporter in that month. "They chose to ignore that the songs had no similarity in actual notes or phrases," the papers say.
Thicke and Williams also want emphasis on the fact that they filed the first lawsuit and that the Gayes made their counterclaims later, in October 2013, according to the documents.
Meanwhile, the summary judgment papers by Gaye's children directly address allegations by Thicke and Williams. "Not only was it, therefore, Thicke and Williams who actually 'smelled money,' but it was they who then played the role of bully by suing Marvin Gaye's children when the Gaye children had the temerity to question why their father was not credited, or why 'Got to Give It Up' was not licensed," the papers state.
Gaye's children are also seeking to use past statements by Thicke and Willimas as evidence of their guilt. However, much of the deposition testimony has been sealed and redacted.
