As the music industry debates the fallout from the “Blurred Lines” copyright verdict, Grammy-winning producer Jermaine Dupri finds himself sympathetic to both Pharrell Williams and Marvin Gaye’s family.

Dupri — who helped Usher reach superstar status, aided in Mariah Carey’s ultra-successful comeback a decade ago and produced for the diva in the 1990s — remembers his days as a budding producer who drew inspiration from the artists who came before him.

“Younger producers like myself and Pharrell, we make records that are influenced by other records that are out there,” Dupri said in an interview Thursday. “That’s how hip-hop has always been created — it has some kind of element of something (from) the past. Or sometimes we just take the entire sample and we give the artist the credit for that sample.

“We’ve all been in a position where it could go like this or we can give the producer the credit,” he added.

Williams and Robin Thicke were ordered to pay nearly $7.4 million to three of Gaye’s children after a jury determined the performers copied elements of the R&B icon’s 1977 hit, “Got to Give It Up.”

“Blurred Lines,” which also featured rapper T.I., was the biggest hit of 2013. It sold more than 7 million tracks in the United States alone, topped the pop charts for months and earned top Grammy nominations. Attorneys for the collaborators filed a pre-emptive lawsuit in August 2013 asking a judge to determine the hit didn’t copy other songs.

“My first time hearing it, I was like, ‘This might be a problem.’ I kind of felt like that,” Dupri said. “Them going to court was really more shocking than anything.”

The Associated Press reached out to several performers, songwriters, publishers and record executives about the effect the “Blurred Lines” case would have on the industry. Most declined to comment.

Keith Urban said he had “mixed feelings” about the verdict. “I was shocked, honestly. Because it seems more like a sound and a feel and style and a genre and an era, none of which can be copy-written,” he said.

He added that because “Blurred Lines” was such a ubiquitous song, “you’ve got a bigger target on your back.”

The Gaye family will seek an injunction against “Blurred Lines,” giving them possible control to negotiate for royalties and other concessions. Millions more in potential future profits for “Blurred Lines” are also at stake.

Though Williams and Thicke are billed as the writers of “Blurred Lines,” Thicke told jurors he didn’t write the song, and Williams testified he crafted it in about an hour in 2012. [Associated Press]