Attorneys for Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams on Wednesday asked an appellate court to overturn a copyright infringement verdict against them over the 2013 hit song "Blurred Lines."
An opening brief filed with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal contends the case should never have gone to trial and the verdict should be overturned, or a new trial ordered.
The case centered on whether Thicke and Williams copied the Marvin Gaye hit "Got to Give It Up" for their hit song, although jurors were only supposed to consider whether "Blurred Lines" improperly copied notes from Gaye's sheet music.
"What happened instead was a cascade of legal errors warranting this court's reversal or vacatur for new trial," the opening brief states.
Thicke and Williams' filing contends the judge presiding over a weeklong copyright infringement trial gave jurors several improper instructions.
The trial ended in March 2015 with jurors awarding Gaye's family more than $7 million. The verdict was later trimmed to $5.3 million.
"We obviously believe the jury and district judge who confirmed the jury's findings were correct in finding infringement," the Gaye family's attorney, Richard Busch, wrote in an email. "Many of these same arguments now contained in their opening brief were raised and rejected by the district judge, and our own opening responsive brief will contain what we believe will be very strong replies to each and every point they raise."
In addition to winning a multi-million dollar judgment against Williams and Thicke, the Gaye family also received a 50 percent interest in ongoing royalties from "Blurred Lines." The song was the biggest hit of 2013.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More