Over 200 artists, including Hans Zimmer, Jennifer Hudson and members of Weezer, Linkin Park and Earth, Wind & Fire, filed an amicus brief with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the bid by Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke, to overturn the $5.3 million final judgment.
The amicus brief includes concerns over how some artists believe that the 9th Circuit Court’s ruling, may have a chilling effect on artist’s creativity going forward. The brief states that the case is “unique” because the two works in question “do not have similar melodies” and “do not even share a single melodic phrase,” but rather a similar overall “feel” or “groove.”
Separately, 10 musicologists have filed their own amicus brief, echoing that the verdict could curtail creativity in popular music, but focusing more on the 9th Circuit’s decision to not reject the case early on in the summary judgment phase.