The thing to keep in mind about Jury Trials is that as often as not it turns into a popularity contest and it is very very easy for a jury to jump either side of a verdict. Everybody knows this and that is why smart attorney’s defending a case which boils down to a matter of opinion prefer a Judge to preside.
Look at it this way: Robin Thicke goes to court and admits to being so drunk and coked up that he had nothing to do with the song he wrote? What did you think the jury, who are given to dislike the charm bereft pop star for his entire “Paula” debacle, thought of that? One of the writers of the song admits to not writing it.
“Blurred Lines” owe a lot to “Got To Give It Up” no doubt, but if, say, Bruce Springsteen had written “Blurred Lines” I wouldn’t bet for a second the Marvin Gaye estate would win. Thicke is too big a creep to win over a jury.
Plagiarism is a tricky question, where is the line between inspiration and theft? How do we live in a world where the second most sampled artist in hip hop history, George Clinton, LOSES and the Gaye Estate wins. This proves that the law is so flexible it boils down to a matter of taste.
Plus, Pharrell Williams was an idiot. As Tomas Doncker noted to me, they should have given Gaye a writing credit and his family a million bucks the second it became clear how influenced “Blurred Lines” was. Still, by the letter of the law, he might have won if ASCAP tried it, if it could be quantified. But it couldn’t be quantified and a jury took one look at Robin and said guilty.