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A jury found that Perry and his songwriters had raised the title "Dark Horse" from a piece titled "Joyful Noise".
Katy Perry and Capitol Records have been ordered to pay $ 2.78 million (over AUD $ 4 million) in damages to Christian rapper Flame (Marcus Gray) after a jury said earlier this week that success Perry's "Dark Horse" copied parts of Gray's piece "Joyful" Noise ".
The decision had been in progress for five years. The jury finally decided that the instrumentation and beat of almost half of 'Dark Horse' were substantially similar to those of 'Joyful Noise'. Producers Max Martin, Cirkut and Dr. Luke, as well as songwriter Sarah Hudson were also found to be responsible for copyright infringement.
"These defendants have earned millions and millions of dollars by violating the complainant's copyright," Gray attorney Michael A Kahn told the court, saying that since the number of copies copied accounted for 45% of "Dark Horse", Gray would be entitled to 45 percent of the profits of the song.
Gray's lawyers argued that Perry had won $ 41 million with the single and was asking for a payment of nearly $ 20 million. But Capitol Records claimed they had earned only a fraction of that amount: "They are not seeking fairness," Aaron Wais told the jury. "They are looking to get the most money possible."
In the end, it was agreed that Perry and Capitol would pay $ 2.78 million in damages, Perry, $ 550,000, and Capitol Records being responsible for the rest. Perry's lawyer Christine Lepera has announced that she will appeal the decision. "The authors of" Dark Horse "see this as a travesty of justice," she said.
All the songwriters in "Dark Horse" (there were six) testified that they had never heard of Gray before writing the song.
Listen to the two songs below.
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