The verdict against Katy Perry, in the Dark Horse copyright infringement lawsuit, has been overturned in the California federal court by Judge Christina A. Snyder. This good news for Perry follows Led Zeppelin’s legal victory in the Stairway to Heaven case.
Last year, a Los Angeles jury found Perry’s Dark Horse single in violation of copyright infringement against a 2008 track, Joyful Noise, a song by Christian rapper Marcus Gray, who goes by the stage name of Flame. Perry, Capitol Records and the singer’s collaborators were ordered to pay damages of $2.8m. Perry’s share was to be $550,000, with Capitol responsible for $1.3m—the remainder to be paid by Perry’s collaborators.
In their appeal, they called the verdict “a grave miscarriage of justice.” Gray can appeal Judge Snyder’s ruling.
(Music Business Worldwide – March 18, 2020 – Murray Stassen)