Marvin Gaye's ex-wife explains: We "had to" sue over 'Blurred Lines'

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Now that the lawsuit over Blurred Lines has been put to rest, according to Marvin Gaye’s ex-wife Jan, few people truly understand the real reason her family went to trial.

In a HuffPost Live discussion about her new book, After The Dance: My Life With Marvin Gaye, Jan Gaye says her family was forced to fight back after Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke and Clifford “T.I.” Harris Jr., filed an initial lawsuit against them.

Gaye says both Thicke and Williams have admitted to being heavily influenced by her ex-husband throughout their careers, and no one in her family had a problem with that. However, ripping off one of Marvin Gaye’s biggest hits went too far.

“With ‘Blurred Lines,’ they crossed the line. That’s the way we felt,” Gaye admits.

She continues, “They sued us because they wanted a judge to issue a summary judgment that said that the song was an original song and that it didn’t infringe on any other copyright or any other song. You could have knocked me over with a feather when that came in, when I got that news that they were [pursuing] this suit.”

Check out the full segment below.