Jury: Pharrell, Robin Thicke Too Cheap to Pay for a Sample

Sampling has been both a great gift and a great curse to the music industry…right, Beastie Boys?

But what happens when an artist wants to capture the “feel” of a classic without paying for a legal sample? According to the jury in the Pharrell/Robin Thicke/Marvin Gaye case, many just choose to rip off the original.

Many R&B music aficionados thought that “Blurred Lines” sounded really familiar…including the family of icon Marvin Gaye.

The song essentially recreated Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give it Up.”

The “artists” in question knew this, which is why they filed a suit anticipating the suit from Gaye’s family.