Flame just got a ‘dark horse’ victory over Katy Perry.
A jury recently decided that Perry, her collaborators, and her record label must pay $2.78 million in damages to Flame, whose real name is Marcus Gray, after determining parts of “Dark Horse” closely resembled “Joyful Noise,” a song of Flame’s from 2008. As reported by CNN, the jury found that 22.5% of the profits from “Dark Horse” were owed to “Joyful Noise.” Consequently, Perry was hit for just over $550,000, with Capitol Records responsible for the vast majority of the money.
According to Reuters, Perry testified that she believed “Dark Horse” was an original work and that “[t]he song was created by her producers and writers after she was presented with a series of short instrumental passages.” Further, her attorney argued, in part, that the portion in question was too brief and too common to be protected by copyright laws. Despite this, a nine person jury reached a unanimous decision in regard to the infringement. Perry’s attorney has said they will appeal the verdict.
This comes as a surprise victory for Flame since he has tried to bring this lawsuit for five years now and has met constant court challenges. Given the unanimous decision by the jury, it will be interesting to see whether Perry and her team will be able to successfully appeal the verdict. However, if not, it should not hurt Perry too much financially, as she is worth roughly $330 million.
Do you think the two songs sound alike? Let us know your thoughts, and stay tuned as this story develops!