Blurred Lines

Produced by Pharrell Williams and recorded in 2013, the track features guest verses from T.I. and Pharrell and was co-written by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams; it was recorded quickly during a single session, with Pharrell building the track's groove around a loose, organic feel deliberately evoking late 1970s funk-soul production. Released in March 2013 on Star Trak/Interscope Records, 'Blurred Lines' spent twelve consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 — equalling the record at the time — and topped charts in over twenty countries, becoming the best-selling single of 2013 globally; it was simultaneously one of the most commercially dominant and most controversial records of the year, with widespread public debate over its lyrical content and music video. The track's legacy is defined as much by its landmark copyright litigation as by its commercial impact: in 2015 a US federal jury found that it had infringed Marvin Gaye's 'Got to Give It Up', a verdict upheld on appeal and widely discussed as a turning point in music copyright law with significant implications for style-based infringement claims; the case has been extensively cited in subsequent music industry disputes.