Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams ordered to pay $5million in final Blurred Lines copyright case verdict

Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams have been ordered to pay $5million (£4million) over a long-running copyright case with Marvin Gaye’s estate.

The singers have been battling the late legend’s family, who alleged back in 2013 that hit Blurred Lines copied Gaye’s Got To Give It Up.

They claimed that Blurred Lines, which itself was the source of controversy over its lyrics, has the same “feel and sound” of the 1977 hit.

Gaye’s family originally won the case in 2015, but the verdict was appealed by Thicke and Pharrell in 2016. A Californian court upheld the verdict this year, with a judge confirming the £4million settlement.

Thicke and Williams, along with Williams' publishing company More Water From Nazareth, are jointly required to pay Gaye's family damages of $2.8million (£2.2m).

Further, Thicke has been ordered to pay an additional $1.7million (£1.3m) in the case while Williams must pay $357,630 (£282,296).

In addition, Gaye’s family will receive half of all future song royalties. It was claimed that the song made Thicke and Williams $16.6million – around £13million – when the case was brought.

The judges were split on the decision, with one dissenting from the ruling when it was delivered.

Jacqueline Nguyen, a Circuit Judge, said that the two songs “different in melody, harmony and rhythm” and referred to the verdict as “strikes a devastating blow to future musicians and composers everywhere”.