Katy Perry and Her 'Dark Horse' Collaborators Owe $2.78 Million in Copyright Suit, Jury Finds
A jury has found that Katy Perry, her collaborators on her hit single “Dark Horse” and Capitol Records owe Christian rap artist Marcus Gray more than $2.5 million, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
The nine-member jury previously found the songwriting team behind the 2013 hit, including the song’s co-creators Dr. Luke and Cirkut, to have copied Gray’s 2008 song, “Joyful Noise,” and on Thursday decided on a grand total of $2.78 million owed for the copyright infringement.
Perry, 34, will be responsible for a little more than $550,000, while Capitol Records will bear the brunt of the amount, the AP reports.
However, there is still a pending motion from Perry’s lawyers that could leave the jury’s decision open for dispute, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The outlet reported that the motion asks U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder to “rule that no reasonable jury could find copyright infringement based on the evidence presented at trial.”
Despite the massive sum, Gray’s camp was reportedly fighting for even more — the singer’s lawyers told the jury he and his co-writers deserved $20 million, USA Today reported, while the defense argued for about $360,000.
Perry received a Grammy nomination for “Dark Horse,” which appears on her 2013 album Prism and has become a staple in the singer’s canon. The star also performed the song during her electric Super Bowl XLIX performance in 2015.
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The pop star was reportedly absent from the courtroom on Monday when the jury’s verdict was reached — she’s been vacationing in Spain with fiancé Orlando Bloom — but she did testify on the first day of the trial, maintaining that she had never before heard “Joyful Noise.”
The decision has been nearly two weeks in the making, as the trial began on July 19.
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While Perry said she had never heard of the song or those who wrote it, when “Joyful Noise” co-writer Emmanuel Lambert Jr., a.k.a. Da Truth, took the stand, he said that the song was widely available on streaming services, Variety reported at the time.
Nonetheless, Perry maintained that she primarily listened to secular music despite her background in Christian music.
Perry’s lawyer had no comment when reached by PEOPLE on Thursday.
