Gaye Family Wants Half Of 'Blurred Lines' Profit

Marvin Gaye's family on Monday asked a judge to impound copies of "Blurred Lines" or award them 50 percent of the royalties from it, according to Courthouse News.

A federal jury in March awarded the three adult children of the late Marvin Gaye almost $7.4 million after finding that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams' "Blurred Lines" contains elements of Gaye's "Got to Give It Up."

Since the verdict, Thicke and Pharrell have filed a motion for a new trial, and the Gayes have asked for an injunction to stop the defendants from continuing to profit from the song without sharing the income.

In a counterclaim in support of an injunction or a share of royalties on Monday, the Gayes' attorney Richard Busch said the family had suffered irreparable injury and that money damages are "inadequate to compensate for that injury."

An injunction is justified because continued profits from "Blurred Lines" are "ill-gotten gains" and the "cost of years of repeated litigation would be a heavy burden on the Gayes," Busch wrote in the 15-page filing.

"If the court is disinclined to grant the Gayes' request for injunction against an impoundment of 'Blurred Lines,' there is a strong basis for the court to grant an ongoing royalty of 50 percent of plaintiffs and counter-defendants profits from all future songwriter and publishing revenues generated by 'Blurred Lines,'" Busch wrote.