Katy Perry, Capital Records, Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, and more, owe $2.78 million in damages for copying a Christian rap song. Katy Perry was found guilty of improperly copying 2009 Christian rap song “Joyful Noise” on her 2013 hit single “Dark Horse.”
Marcus Gray, who goes under the stage name Flame, owns the song and filed the lawsuit in 2015. Perry’s record copies the notes and beats of the song. In court, Both Perry and Dr. Luke denied ever hearing Gray’s record.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the trial was divided into two phases, liability and damages.
“After a weeklong first phase and more than two days of deliberations, a Los Angeles jury found that there was indeed infringement.”
The penalty phase took place on Tuesday and it was decided that Gray and his co-plaintiffs are owed $2.78 million. Just over half a million is owed by Perry and the remaining balance is owed by Capitol Records.
In addition, The Hollywood Reporter says a motion from Katy Perry’s lawyers asking the judge to rule that “no reasonable jury could find copyright infringement based on the evidence presented at trial,” is still pending.
