*A federal jury in California has found that Katy Perry’s hit song “Dark Horse” ripped off a 2009 Christian rap track, and now she must pay up!
Now the pop star and her record label must pay $2.78 million to Marcus Gray and his two co-writers on the song “Joyful Noise.” Perry herself is responsible for over $550,000, while Capitol Records has to pay the vast majority of the money, Billboard reports.
BuzzFeed reports that Gray and the two co-authors, Emanuel Lambert and Chike Ojukwu, filed the copyright infringement lawsuit five years ago. They accused Perry and her producers — Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Cirkut –off stealing a 16-second musical riff from their song “Joyful Noise,” which Gray released under the stage name Flame.
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Katy Perry and record label hit with $2.7 million copyright judgment https://t.co/JjGV2zUEg2 pic.twitter.com/p7zG2ntErP
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 2, 2019
“These defendants have made millions and millions of dollars from their infringement of the plaintiff’s copyright,” Gray’s attorney, Michael A. Kahn, told the jury during the first phase of the trial Monday.
Jurors found all six writers of “Dark Horse” were liable for copying from “Joyful Noise,” including Perry, who co-wrote the lyrics and rapper Juicy J, who is featured on the track.
Perry’s attorney, Christine Lepera, said they plan to fight the jury’s decision. “The writers of Dark Horse consider this a travesty of justice,” she said.
The singer reportedly made a profit of $2.4 million from the song, while Gray’s attorneys argued that “Dark Horse” grossed about $41 million.
All the songwriters testified that they never heard of Gray or his song before being sued.
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