check this:

"There was much controversy between the two sides as to whether Gaye's copyrights are limited to sheet music compositions or whether they extend to features heard on the "Got to Give It Up" sound recording. For the purposes of the analysis, the judge looks to the 1909 Copyright Act, which would have given the Gaye family the right to include more than just the sheet music if the work was published with proper notices or part of necessary deposits at the Copyright Office. The judge concludes that the Gaye family hasn't sufficiently shown it did either, and thus, they "have failed to produce evidence that creates a genuine issue as to whether the copyrights in 'Got to Give It Up' and 'After the Dance' encompass material other than that reflected in the lead sheets deposited with the Copyright Office."

As a result, the analysis of whether Thicke's "Blurred Lines" is substantially similar to Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" won't examine such things as the congruence of percussive choices or backup vocals, though there may or may not be some trial attention on such features in the intrinsic analysis (the judgment of an ordinary person). That issue seems likely to come up again given the reactions by the lawyers provided below."


^ in order to have the best shot at winning the Gayes needed to be able to use elements of the 'Got To Give It Up' RECORD that the judge now says won't be allowed. we've said here and musicologists have agreed that the compositional elements of the 2 songs at issue don't match. if anything the 2 records have similar 'feel'. if anything Williams borrowed production elements from Gaye. those production elements aren't copyrighted - only the sheet music material is copyrighted. so that's all that'll be compared at the trial. and the sheet musics for the 2 songs don't match up.

so the Gayes should lose at trial. but who knows? juries do strange things sometimes. a jury could find for the Gayes for the same reasons it seems some folks here support the Gayes - anti-white sentiment, anti-Thicke/anti-Williams sentiment, pro-Gaye sentiment.
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