Pharrell Williams told a jury Wednesday that he was trying
to evoke the feel of Marvin Gaye's music but did not copy the late singer's
work when he crafted the 2013 hit Blurred Lines.
Williams said he grew up listening to Gaye's music and was
familiar with his song Got to Give It Up, but did not use it as a basis for
Blurred Lines, which was a hit for him and collaborators Robin Thicke and T.I.
'He's one of the ones we look up to,' Williams said. 'This
is the last place I want to be.'
Williams, Thicke and T.I. are being sued by Gaye's children
who claim Blurred Lines infringes their father's copyrights for 1977's Got to
Give It Up.
Williams' testimony is crucial because he wrote the song's
music and most of its lyrics. Although Thicke received a songwriting credit on
the song, he acknowledged earlier in the trial that he didn't do much work on
the Grammy nominated song.
T.I.'s rap track was added later, and Williams said he
wasn't involved in its inclusion. T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, is
expected to be among the case's final witnesses on Thursday.
Williams spent more than an hour describing his musical
process and he how he crafted Blurred Lines in mid-2012 in between working on
tracks with Miley Cyrus and rapper Earl Sweatshirt.
Thicke arrived after the music and lyrics had been written,
Williams recalled. He quickly brought the singer up to speed and they began
recording what would become 2013's biggest hit song.
'We were bopping and dancing,' Williams recalled. 'It was a
cool night.'
His answers were sometimes too lengthy for U.S. District
Judge John A. Kronstadt, who cut off Williams several times mid-sentence and
didn't allow him to elaborate on some of his answers.
Blurred Lines has earned more than $16 million in profits
and more than $5 million apiece for Thicke and Williams, according to testimony
offered earlier in the trial.
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