Is anything original anymore?
Katie Perry’s, (“Perry”), song “Dark Horse” may not be as original as she claims. Marcus Gray, a.k.a. Flame, Chike Ojukwu, and Emanuel Lambert have filed a copyright infringement suit against Perry. Perry allegedly copied Flame’s song “Joyful Noise.” Flame is a Christian rapper and is relying on YouTube and Myspace plays as proof that Perry heard his song prior to writing “Dark Horse.” Perry attempted to quash this lawsuit by filing a motion for summary judgment, but her attempt was unsuccessful, as Judge Christina Snyder denied this motion in August 2018 because plaintiff was able to “demonstrat[e] a triable issue of fact as to access because ‘Joyful Noise’ achieved critical success, including a Grammy nomination, and was readily available and viewed millions of times on YouTube and MySpace.”
The elements of a copyright infringement claim are ownership of the copyright and actual copying by the defendant. Copying is usually proven circumstantially through evidence of access and substantial similarity. In order for Flame to win against Perry, he must prove to a jury that Perry had access to his song prior to writing “Dark Horse.” Flame’s claim is based around the dissemination of his song on the Internet, mainly YouTube and Myspace. To me, just because the song was on the Internet does not necessarily prove Perry had access to the song and actually heard it; however, the more plays the song had. on the two above mentioned sites, the more probable it is that Perry actually heard the song. Since “Joyful Noise” achieved critical success, the weight of justice tips towards Flame in proving Perry had access to his song. As the trial has recently been bifurcated, the liability phase of the suit is scheduled to being on Wednesday. Stay tuned to find out if Katy Perry infringed on Flame’s copyright or not!
Below are links to both songs. After listening to both, the underlying beats are very similar. Perry’s version of the song it slightly pitched up and slowed down; however, I think there is a substantial similarity between the two songs:
Dark Horse link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KSOMA3QBU0 (the similar beat starts on Perry’s song at 0:20).
Joyful Noise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MllhC0qyEjY (entire beat throughout the song).
Source: Hollywood Reporter