Katy Perry to Pay $2.78 Million for Illegally Copying Christian Rap Song
Earlier this week, a jury found popular singer Katy Perry guilty of illegally copying a Christian rap song. The judge on the case announced today that Perry and her label will have to pay $2.78 million for the copyright infringement.
The court decided that the underlying beat of Perry’s 2013 hit “Dark Horse” was too close to that of Flame’s (aka Marcus Gray) 2009 song “Joyful Noise.”
But Perry was not the only one to get in trouble. Her collaborators and co-writers—including rapper Juicy J, Cirkut, Max Martin, Sarah Hudson and Lukasz—were also found liable.
After the jury announced the verdict of guilty, Perry’s legal team argued that she and the label company should only pay $360,000 for damages. Meanwhile, Gray’s attorney, Michael A. Kahn, pushed for $20 million.
“These defendants have made millions and millions of dollars from their infringement of the plaintiff’s copyright,” said Kahn. “They seek a fair portion of the defendants’ profits. Not all of them.”
Kahn argued that “Dark Horse” made $41 million for Perry. The song has been streamed 1.89 billion times, making it arguably one of the most popular songs on Perry’s album. But Perry’s legal team argued that costs must be subtracted before the judge could determine a fair payment.
Perry will be held accountable to pay $550,000, with her Capitol Records label paying $1.2 million.
Flame and his co-writers, Emmanuel Lambert and Chike Ojukwu, filed a lawsuit against Perry and her team five years ago.
