Blurred Legal Lines, But Nudity Is Clearly Art!

Let's say that you are a musician, and you have the biggest hit song of the summer...what do you do next?  Well, you sue anyone who owns the rights to another song, which sounds too familiar to your own...even if that song was a hit over 35 years before your own song was released.

Alan Thicke, (whom I profiled in this column in 1989, while I was going under another name), wrote TV theme songs and also starred in the TV hit comedy, 'Growing Pains'.  Alan's son, Robin Thicke, as a preemptive strike, has filed a lawsuit, against the family of the late 'Prince of Motown', Marvin Gaye.

While praising Marvin, the complaint suit argues the point that the song 'Blurred Lines' does not infringe the rights of the song 'Got To Give It Up'.:

[Plaintiffs, who have the utmost respect for and admiration of Marvin Gaye ... reluctantly file this action in the face of multiple adverse claims ... Plaintiffs created a hit and did it without copying anyone else's composition. ... The basis of the Gaye defendants' claims is that 'Blurred Lines' and 'Got To Give It Up' "feel" or "sound" the same. Being reminiscent of a "sound" is not copyright infringement. The intent in producing 'Blurred Lines' was to evoke an era. In reality, the Gaye defendants are claiming ownership of an entire genre, as opposed to a specific work ... The reality is that the songs themselves are starkly different.]

Judge for yourself.  Both songs are below:

Robin Thicke, 'Blurred Lines'

Marvin Gaye, 'Got To Give It Up'

What I find fascinating about this suit is the preemptive move.  Robin Thicke's camp comes across sounding insane, as if like they are saying:

"Hey, the song that your father made famous in 1978, sounds a lot like the song that we just made...and before you sue me, I'm gonna sue you!!!"

In my own opinion, what they sound like that they are saying is:

"Hey, I'm gonna sue you...This way, I get to pick where the court case will be heard, I can force you to step-up before you are legally ready to build your own case, and most importantly, I do not have to wait out the three year statute of limitation period!!!  Oh, and you will have to pay the costs and attorney fees, if we win!!!"

This sounds like a bad marketing move, but a smart legal move.  The real dick-ish part is where the Gayes family may need to fork out any fees for a court case against them, that they had not legally initiated, or really did any wrong-doing.  Thicke should pick up those costs.

Robin Thicke seems like a good guy, as he let Jimmy Kimmel and Guillermo mock his own video on national TV:

There is also another version of this video, except this time the beautiful girls are a bit less dressed.  Now, I am not one to normally shy away from female nudity in my daily life, but I do hesitate from posting anything that is considered demeaning to women.

So just like a movie director, who is looking for a convincing point to make about why a nude scene is important to advance the story, I am desperately looking for a way to justify a reason to include this video in my blog!

Robin Thicke recently told Spin Magazine:

"People say, 'Hey, do you think this is degrading to women?' I'm like, 'Of course it is. What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I've never gotten to do that before. I've always respected women.' So we just wanted to turn it over on its head and make people go, 'Women and their bodies are beautiful. Men are always gonna want to follow them around.'"

 I am not sure if that comment is helping or hurting...but then I read his wife's Tweet:

Nudity is Beautiful!!! Violence is ugly. ROBIN #THICKE "BLURRED LINES is the SHIT!!! It's art and it makes me want t… http://t.co/KIMD68Wmgf
— Paula Patton (@PaulaPattonXO) March 31, 2013

ART!   Yes!  Alright, that works for me!  Sooooo, for the sake of art, (viewer discretion is advised), enjoy!:

Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines ft. T.I. Pharrell (Explicit Video) from Crookid Magazine on Vimeo.

Here is one more version, as the very talented, Jimmy Fallon, along with the equally talented, The Roots, crank out 'Blurred Lines' with Robin Thicke, using only classroom instruments.:

 Tony Lossano, Broadcast Producer (TV & Radio, Chicago), amateur bicyclist, a fantastic dog walker, and has never been married to Alyssa Milano.