Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke have lost the first round of their Blurred Lines lawsuit against Marvin Gaye's estate.
Earlier this year, the two musicians filed a lawsuit after receiving threats from Gaye's family, who accused Thicke and Williams of stealing parts of their hit song Blurred Lines from Gaye's Got to Give It Up.
Gaye's estate then filed a countersuit, claiming that Thicke had a 'Marvin Gaye fixation,' in addition to stealing music. Now, a California judge has ruled that the songs may be substantially similar.
US District Judge John Kronstadt denied Thicke and Williams' motion for summary judgement, and ruled that there was enough evidence to move forward with the Gaye family's claim.
Kronstadt's ruling saw similarities in the two songs' bass lines, keyboard parts, vocal lines, melodies and harmonies. The trial is scheduled for Feb 10, 2015.
Billboard reports that the case could be one of the biggest trials over alleged song theft in music history.
