Robin Thicke Preemptively Sues Marvin Gaye Estate, Funkadelic Over ‘Blurred Lines’ Similarities

Typically, you'll hear about an artist being sued because his or her music harps on the copyrighted material of another artist, be it through a sample clearance issue or songwriting similarity. But in the case of Robin Thicke, he's jumping the gun to make sure he doesn't come under legal fire for comparisons made to his mega-hit 'Blurred Lines.'

According to 'the Hollywood Reporter,' the Los Angeles singer has filed a lawsuit against the estate of Marvin Gaye and Bridgeport Music over claims that his massive single resembles two 1970s hits. Those are Gaye's 'Got to Give It Up' and Funkadelic's 'Sexy Ways'; Bridgeport owns a some of Funkadelic's catalogue.

The guests on 'Blurred Lines,' T.I. and Pharrell, are listed as plaintiffs in the suit, too, which is a preemptive move to ensure that they and Thicke can't be sued over an alleged similarities. They're also requesting that a judge making a ruling that the Gaye estate doesn't have any standing to bring a lawsuit to Thicke.

This news arrives, as pointed out by 'Spin,' after Thicke said that he 'Blurred Lines' was indeed inspired by 'Got to Give It Up' in an interview with 'GQ.' He told the interview, "I was like, 'Damn, we should make something like that, something with that groove.'"