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More than 200 musicians stand behind the 'Blurred Lines' appeal

The lines are blurring regarding "Blurred Lines": hundreds of artists are voicing concern about the legal repercussions of a Los Angeles jury's decision ruling that the song, recorded in 2012, stole from Marvin Gaye's 1977 tune "Got to Give It Up." This conclusion was reached despite the fact that -- while referential -- the songs have no shared melodies, shared song structure, or shared lyrics, which many music creatives see as an overreach of copyright protection. The amicus brief filed this week supports the request of the trio (Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams, and T.I.) that the court overturn the judgment.

As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, this copyright infringement ruling is being countered by 212 musicians. The names on board span Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, Danger Mouse, Three 6 Mafia, Earth, Wind & Fire, R. Kelly, Tears for Fears, Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump, Frank Ocean collaborator Malay, film composer Hans Zimmer, Jennifer Hudson, and plenty more.

The 2015 outcome granted the Gaye family $5.3 million in damages and 50 percent of royalties from the song --but the ruling put in place longer-term consequences for copyright cases.

The amicus brief, penned by attorney Ed McPherson and cited on Pitchfork, states:

"Amici are concerned about the potential adverse impact on their own creativity, on the creativity of future artists, and on the music industry in general, if the judgment in this case is allowed to stand. The verdict in this case threatens to punish songwriters for creating new music that is inspired by prior works. All music shares inspiration from prior musical works, especially within a particular musical genre... The law should provide clearer rules so that songwriters can know when the line is crossed, or at least where the line is."

Following the 2015 court decision, Pitchfork contributor and musician Damon Krukowski had similarly criticized the vagaries of the legal system regarding aspects of music copyright in an op-ed: "the real problem with 'Blurred Lines' was not its plagiarism, but the lack of a legal structure for acknowledging that musical debt and repaying it in some measured way." He continued: "We need new rules for plagiarism that allow for the creativity of digital copying without making intellectual property valueless."