It’s been a week-long trial for the pop artist, but finally, a Californian jury has concluded that Katy Perry’s ‘Dark Horse’ is in fact, guilty of copyright infringement.
Rapper for christ, Marcus Gray, who performs under the name ‘Flame’, is the one who brought the lawsuit about.
This isn’t the first time Perry has had a run-in with the wrath of the Catholics, after a nun collapsed and died during an intense legal battle with the pop star, who is now claimed to have “blood on her hands.”
Flame’s claim was that Perry’s 2013 song ‘Dark Horse’, produced by Dr. Luke, copied his own song, ‘Joyful Noise’, which was released in 2009 for his Christian rap album Our World Redeemed.
The plaintiff’s main allegation was that the underlying beat of ‘Joyful Noise’ was directly stolen.
You can judge for yourself below, and listen to the two tracks, which to be honest, only sound slightly similar.
Flame – ‘Joyful Noise’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTLeHuvHXuk
Katy Perry – ‘Dark Horse’
The trial was definitely met with some rather strange happenings as well. After suffering technical difficulties on day one of the trial, Perry offered to sing the track live for the court. And on the day Dr. Luke testified, there was a shooting just outside the court.
‘Dark Horse’ joins ‘Blurred Lines’ and ‘Stairway to Heaven’ as songs that have been put to a jury in this rather entertaining decade of copyright claims.
Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke were made to pay $7.4 million to Marvin Gaye’s family for allegedly copying his hit song ‘Got to Give it Up’.
Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ v.s Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got to Give it Up’:
After complications in the courtroom, Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ will be heading back to court for allegedly stealing from Spirit’s song ‘Taurus’.
Taurus’ ‘Spirit’ v.s Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’:
This final verdict in the ‘Dark Horse’ case means that the case will now proceed to everyone’s favourite stage, the damages phase.
Perry’s lawyers have made a motion which is still pending, and asks the U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder to rule that no reasonable jury could find a case for copyright infringement based on the evidence that was presented during the trial.
