Top Plaintiff's Verdicts by Impact: Williams v. Bridgeport Music Inc. et al.

Copyright infringement

Central District

U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt

Plaintiff's lawyers (on counterclaims): King & Ballow, Richard S. Busch, Paul H. Duvall; Wargo & French LLP, Mark L. Block; The Law Offices of Paul N. Philips, Paul N. Philips

Defense lawyers (on counterclaims): King, Holmes, Paterno & Berliner LLP, Howard E. King, Stephen D. Rothschild

Motown soul singer Marvin Gaye wrote "Got to Give It Up," but he and his heirs didn't give up the copyright in the 1977 hit. That led federal jurors in the Central District in March to rule that pop stars Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were liable to the tune of $7.4 million for copying the song in their own 2013 hit, "Blurred Lines."

The ruling came after Thicke and Williams sued for a court ruling that their composition did not infringe the Gaye song. The Gaye heir defendants filed counterclaims. Williams v. Bridgeport Music Inc. et al., 13-CV06004 (C.D. Cal., filed Aug. 15, 2013).

The award represented half the publishing revenue from the newer song and a third of the artists' individual profit from it.

"We fought this with one arm tied behind our back and won," said the lead counsel for the Gaye heirs, Richard S. Busch of Nashville, Tenn.-based King & Ballow.

He referred to a pretrial ruling by U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt that barred the commercially released sound recording of "Got to Give It Up" from being played in court.

Kronstadt ruled that a phonographic record did not constitute publication under the 1909 Copyright Act and was not covered by a copyright on the composition.

Busch also faulted the judge for denying his motion to explain to jurors about the degree of similarity allegedly infringing songs must display. He hoped the instruction would undercut what he termed misleading, highly technical note-for-note comparisons by opposing counsel Howard E. King of King, Holmes, Paterno & Berliner LLP.

"They started this fight, chose to litigate this in the press by making comments about emulating a groove or an era, but it was about copyright infringement and they were found liable," Busch said of Thicke and Williams.

- John Roemer