After a years-long legal debacle between Katy Perry and Christian rapper Flame, Perry has won the lawsuit in federal appeals court, who ruled that the eight-note sequences present in Perry’s “Dark Horse” and Flame’s “Joyful Noise” did not infringe on Flame’s copyright. They wrote that deciding any differently “would essentially amount to allowing an improper monopoly” over “musical building blocks.”
Following the release of Perry’s “Dark Horse” in 2013, Flame proceeded to sue Perry in 2014. Flame’s song was released in 2008, and he was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album category. His song’s prominence due to the nomination suggested that Perry and her songwriting team had substantial access to the song, which strengthened Flame’s argument.
In the first litigation, it was decided that Perry and her team had to pay $2.8 million as a penalty after a jury sided with Flame’s team. Flame’s attorney, Michael A. Kahn, argued that the musical phrase in question is a unique creation that should be protected by copyright, much to the like of “Dave Brubeck’s ‘Take Five’ [and] The Rolling Stones’ ‘Satisfaction.’”
Perry then challenged the decision, leading to an appeal she won in 2020. The U.S. Court of Appeals will not reinstate the original penalty, and the argument is likely to end there. On their decision, the Ninth Circuit wrote that the eight-note sequence in both songs “results only from the use of commonplace, unoriginal musical principles.” Therefore, “it cannot be the basis for copyright infringement claim on its own.”
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