Marvin Gaye family awarded $5m from 'Blurred Lines' case

A five-year legal battle over the copyright of the 2013 song 'Blurred Lines', written by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Wlliams, has ended with Marvin Gaye's family being awarded a final judgment of nearly $5 million against Thicke and Williams.

The legal battle began when the pair had been accused of copyright infringement for their 2013 single because of the similarities to Gaye's 1977 hit 'Got to Give It Up.'

Thicke and Williams had originally been ordered to pay Gaye's estate more than $7 million in 2015, but that judgement was reduced to $5.3 million and the pair appealed the verdict.

According to CNN, the judgement from U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt in California, Thicke, Williams and Williams' More Water From Nazareth Publishing are required to pay Gaye's family damages of nearly $2.9 million.

On top of this, Thicke was ordered to pay more than $1.7 million and Williams and his publishing company must pay $357,631 in separate awards to Gaye's estate.

The ruling also awarded Gaye's family pre-judgement interest on the damages and 50% percent of the royalties from 'Blurred Lines' moving forward.

This is an important judgement in what is becoming a more prevalent issue in modern music - that of artists being accused of plagiarism by other artists.

Last year, Ed Sheeran settled out of court over claims that his hit track 'Photograph' borrowed heavily from X Factor winner Matt Cardle's song 'Amazing.'

In previous years, the likes of Vanilla Ice, Coldplay, Justin Beiber, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and the Beach Boys have all faced accusations of plagiarism.

Spot the similarities between 'Blurred Lines' and 'Got To Give It Up':