On April 1st, 1984, legendary soul singer, Marvin Gaye, was shot and killed inside his California mansion by his father. Despite the tragedy, the world would be shocked to learn that Gaye’s murder was not the biggest source of tension for the late star’s family. Instead, his family would grieve the death of a son, brother, and father who died depressed, drug-addicted, and in debt to the tune of $9 million. Without a will, and a large host of creditors, the fate of Marvin Gaye’s financial legacy was left to a court-appointed bankruptcy attorney to try to salvage with the family. And salvage it, they did. With savvy marketing of Gaye’s song royalties, image rights, and even the official rights to produce his life story, the executor of the Marvin Gaye estate paid off the debts and accumulated several million dollars worth of assets — and Gaye’s three children, as the heirs under intestate law, reaped the benefits for years. Knowing their father’s value and musical style, it’s no surprise that when Gaye’s children heard the hit 2013 song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and TI on the radio, alarm bells went off. As they would later argue in court, “Blurred Lines” closely mirrored the “feeling” of their father’s 1977 song “Got to Give It Up”. Gaye’s estate attorneys would aim to justify that “Blurred Lines” could not exist without Marvin Gaye’s original recording. This would blow open a massive copyright infringement battle between Marvin Gaye’s estate and the three famous artists — ultimately, making Marvin Gaye’s song a turning point in music copyright history that would affect all future artists.
