Before a special audience in Los Angeles last week, the velvet-voiced pop singer Robin Thicke performed his 2013 hit “Blurred Lines,” ran through a medley at the piano and discussed artistic inspiration.
Mr. Thicke’s stage was not an arena or a nightclub, but rather a federal courtroom where he is part of a lawsuit over copyright infringement that has gripped the music industry and revived perennial questions about when a song crosses the line from homage to outright plagiarism.
The case, which continues this week, pits Mr. Thicke and his two credited co-writers of “Blurred Lines,” Pharrell Williams and the rapper T.I., against the family of Marvin Gaye. The family accuses Mr. Thicke and his colleagues of using distinct musical elements of Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up” without permission.
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