Hey Biz Talkers! Remember the “Blurred Lines” verdict that we discussed a couple of months ago? Well, it isn’t over yet although the original verdict ordering a 7.3 Million dollar payment has been reduced to 5.3 million dollars and Robin Thicke and Pharrell’s requests for a new trial have been denied by the U.S. District Court. At this point, Pharrell’s attorney is looking to file another appeal to the decision. Is it possible that the decision will be reversed on appeal? I have stated previously that no copyright infringement was committed in this case as the standard for copyright infringement (substantial similarity) was not met by the recording of Blurred Lines. Moreover, the original claim of Marvin Gaye’s family was not that the melody or lyrics of “Got to Give It Up” were copied but rather the “style” or “mood” of the song was. In my opinion, as a matter of copyright law, there cannot be a finding of copyright infringement based on what a song “feels like”. If that were the law, the great majority of the hit songs of the last 20 years would be deemed copyright infringements. I sincerely hope that the appeal will be heard and be successful for Pharrell. If not, how songs are approached and created will become much more tentative and possibly stifle the ability to make great music going forward. Stay tuned!