Listen to the mash-up that proves Robin Thicke and Pharrell copied a Marvin Gaye song to make 'Blurred Lines'
While the singers denied copying the late Gaye's music, Gaye's children sued Thicke and Williams, saying their song infringed the copyright of their father's song.
As part of the Gayes' case, they submitted an audio mash-up intended to serve as "concrete musical illustrations of the substantial similarities" between "Blurred Lines" and "Got to Give it Up."
On Monday, during a nearly week-long testimony, The Hollywood Reporter explained of the mash-up tape:
To that end, they have produced for the judge's ears a mash-up - quite possibly the first time ever in a courtroom that a mash-up has been exploited to prove copyright infringement. In the recording, the vocal material of "Blurred Lines" plays over the instrumental of "Got to Give It Up," and vice versa. "This material sounds like a perfect, natural match because it blends sonically," says the summary judgment memorandum.
If that's not enough, the Gayes have two expert musicologists describing eight substantial similarities: "(1) the signature phrase in the main vocal melodies; (2) the hooks; (3) the hooks with backup vocals; (4) the core theme in 'Blurred Lines' and backup hook in 'Got to Give it Up'; (5) the backup hooks; (6) the bass melodies; (7) the keyboard parts; and (8) the unusual percussion choices."
Thanks to YouTube, you can listen to a few mash-ups of the two songs and judge for yourself below:
Here's another mash-up:
Here's the "Blurred Lines" music video:
See how it compares to "Got To Give It Up":
"Blurred Lines" earned more than $5 million apiece for Thicke and Williams. Although both are credited as its songwriters, Williams wrote the song in about an hour in 2012, and the pair recorded it in one night.