Marvin Gaye's Family Apparently Isn't Through With 'Blurred Lines' Yet

The family of iconic late musician Marvin Gaye may have walked away from the Blurred Lines saga with a settlement numbering well into seven-figure territory, but they're not quite finished with the song's creators yet. 

Having acquired their cash from primary songwriters Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, the family have set their sights on the song's third credited composer, T.I., real name Clifford Harris Jr.

According to a report from BET, Gaye's children, Frankie, Nona and Marvin Gaye III, have filed a motion seeking accountability from T.I. for his contribution to Blurred Lines, as wel as from Universal Music, Interscope Records and Star Trak Entertainment.

In the original ruling, the result of which found Blurred Lines owed more than a cursory debt to Gaye's 1977 hit Got To Give It Up, only Thicke and Williams were forced to pay up, with T.I. — whose share of the more than $US16 million (about $21.3 million) revenue generated by the song was a shade above $US700,000 — dodging having to chip in to the Gaye family's payout.

"As a matter of law, all members of the distribution chain are liable for copyright infringement, including co-writer of the song Blurred Lines Clifford Harris Jr, and the Interscope Parties, who manufactured, licensed, distributed and sold the infringing song, both as a single and as part of the album," the Gayes wrote in their legal submission.

The Gaye children have since issued an open letter regarding the court battle, which in recent weeks has taken some colourful turns as speculation and rumours run rampant over the family's intent to file further copyright-based lawsuits. 

One notable rumour that was being passed around was that the family intended to target Pharrell again, this time over his mega-hit Happy, which was apparently accused of being audibly similar to Gaye's Ain't That Peculiar, a claim the Gaye family has since described as "100% false".

"We have absolutely no claim whatsoever concerning Happy," Gaye's children wrote in their letter.

In addition, the letter addresses the charge that the case was won on nebulous bases centred on the song's aesthetics rather than theoretical make-up, saying that the jury's verdict "was based entirely on the similarity of the basic musical compositions, not on 'style,' or 'feel,' or 'era,' or 'genre'".

"Instead of licensing our father's song and giving him the appropriate songwriter credit, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams released Blurred Lines and then filed a pre-emptive lawsuit against us, forcing us into court," they wrote.

"They sought to quickly affirm that their song was 'starkly different' to Got To Give It Up. The Judge denied their motion for Summary Judgment, and a jury was charged with determining the 'extrinsic and intrinsic similarities' of the songs. The jury has spoken."