UPDATE 2 (10/11): Katy Perry, her collaborators and Capitol Records have appealed the previous July verdict that ruled that she improperly copied a beat from Marcus Gray aka Flame for her hit Dark Horse. Documents were filed in a California court on October 9th.
UPDATE:A jury has found that Katy Perry, her collaborators and her label Capitol Records must pay $2.78 million in damages to Marcus Gray and two of his co-writers for copying elements of the Christian rappers 2009 song Joyful Noise on Perrys 2013 song Dark Horse, Associated Press reports. The jury awarded the money on Thursday.
A jury unanimously ruled that Katy Perrys 2013 hit single Dark Horse improperly copied Christian rapper Flames 2009 song Joyful Noise. The nine-member federal jury in a Los Angeles determined that Perry and her co-writers and producers will owe unspecified damages for copyright infringement.
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Dark Horse, which has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide, credits several songwriters, including Perry and Sarah Hudson, who wrote the lyrics, and rapper Juicy J, who wrote his verse. The track was produced by Dr. Luke, Max Martin and Cirkut, who created the beat in question during the week-long trial. Flame, born Marcus Gray, and Emanuel Lambert and Chike Ojukwuhis, two co-authors on Joyful Noise, first sued in 2014, alleging that Dark Horse stole the songs memorable beat. A rep for Perry declined to comment. Reps for Dr. Luke and Juicy J did not reply to requests for comment.
Perrys lawyers argued that if the commonplace beats in question were subject to copyright it could hurt all songwriters and have potential implications for music down the road. Theyre trying to own basic building blocks of music, the alphabet of music that should be available to everyone, Perrys lawyer Christine Lepera said during closing arguments of the trial. Lepera did not reply to a request for comment.
Perry, who was not present when the verdict was read, testified that she had never heard Joyful Noise, nor heard of Flame, before the lawsuit. Her co-writers testified similarly. Flames lawyers responded that the song was widely distributed, with millions of plays on YouTube and Spotify, and reminded the jury of Perrys origins in the Christian music scene. His team argued that Perry and her team had ripped off the main beat and instrumental line of Joyful Noise.
During the trial, Perry even offered to perform Dark Horse live when her lawyers were unable to play the song due to a broken speaker system. The issue was eventually fixed, so no impromptu concert was necessary.
Capitol Records, Perrys label, which distributed the single, was also found liable in the lawsuit verdict. Dark Horse appeared on Perrys fourth album, Prism, released by Capitol on October 18, 2013. The track was nominated for a Grammy nomination and Perry also performed the song during her 2015 Super Bowl halftime show.
The jury will decide this week how much Flame is owed in damages by Perry and the other defendants.