Marvin Gaye III's lawyer initially broke news of the suit on Sunday (09Aug15) after telling TMZ.com that he is working on filing a lawsuit against the hip-hop drama's co-creator Lee Daniels, and executives at TV network Fox, among others, claiming Gaye registered the premise for a similar show called Diamonds & Ballads with the Writers Guild of America in 2010

According to the gossip site, the show, which Gaye allegedly pitched to TV executives, was based on the lives of his family - and the family members of Motown founder and producer Berry Gordy - and was a "black and hip" version of Dynasty and The Sopranos.

On Monday (10Aug15), Gaye's attorney Paul Philips clarified his comments, telling Rolling Stone, "My client has not filed a lawsuit regarding the Empire series", insisting the late soul legend's son is currently focused on "the Blurred Lines case and on seeing that through to its conclusion".

Although the Gaye family successfully sued Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for copyright infringement over their hit track Blurred Lines in March (15) - and were awarded $7.4 million (£6.6 million) in damages, the case continues as rapper T.I. was recently found liable of infringement after contributing a verse to the 2013 hit.

Philips adds, "We will address the TMZ report and the Empire matter at the appropriate time."