Katy Perry found guilty of 'ripping off' Christian rap song Joyful Noise with Dark Horse
30 July 2019, 16:19
A new 'Dark Horse' copyright trial has found Katy Perry guilty of stealing from Flame.
Katy Perry has been sued in a 'Dark Horse' copyright trial for ripping off Flame's christian rap song 'Joyful Noise'.
Fans of Katy Perry will already know that 'Dark Horse (feat. Juicy J)' is one of her most successful singles to date. The Prism single topped charts all around the world in 2014 and has shifted over 10 million copies in the US alone. Now the hit song is coming under scrutiny for copying Flame's 'Joyful Noise'.
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Five years ago, Marcus Gray, stage name Flame, filed a lawsuit against Katy Perry, alleging that she had stolen parts of 'Dark Horse' from his song 'Joyful Noise'.
Yesterday (Jul 29), a court sided with Gray and ruled that Katy copied 'Joyful Noise'.
During the week-long trial, Katy gave evidence in a bid to prove that she didn't plagiarise 'Joyful Noise' with 'Dark Horse'. In the trial, she claimed that she had never heard 'Joyful Noise' before co-writing and releasing 'Dark Horse'. Her team argued that the beats used in both songs are "commonplace". Katy's lawyer Christine Lepera stated: "They're trying to own basic building blocks of music, the alphabet of music that should be available to everyone".
However, in spite of Katy's best efforts, the court ruled against her. Gray's team asserted that Katy stole from 'Joyful Noise' intentionally and "copied an important part" of the song. They also inferred that Katy's team were dismissing Gray's case because he is a Christian rapper and not a popstar like her: "They're trying to shove Mr Gray into some gospel music alleyway that no one ever visits".
Listen to the two songs and compare them below.
Katy Perry - Dark Horse (Official) ft. Juicy J
Flame - Joyful Noise
Now the court has to decide how much Katy and the writers and producers behind 'Dark Horse' (Juicy J, Sarah Hudson, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Cirkut) owe Gray in damages. We shall update you as soon as a figure is decided.
