In 2015, a court ruled that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams had to pay the estate of Marvin Gaye $7.4 million because their smash 2013 hit "Blurred Lines" infringed on the copyright of Gaye's 1977 hit "Got to Give It Up." Additionally, the pair had to pay the estate 50 percent of future royalties on "Blurred Lines" forever.
T.I., who was also on the track, wasn't held accountable because his rap portion of the song was deemed original.
Yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling.
The 2015 ruling was unusual in that it made it illegal to copy a musical style, rather than specific words and beats.
During the trial, Thicke and Pharell's lawyer argued that a guilty verdict would "chill musical creativity and inhibit the process by which later artists draw inspiration from earlier artists to create new popular music."
What do you think?