An earlier verdict was overturned today that determined this summer that Katy Perry must pay a total of $ 2.78 million for plagiarizing a Christian rap song.
A Los Angeles appeals court today overturned an earlier verdict that determined this summer that Katy Perry had to pay a total of 2.78 million dollars (2.45 million euros) for plagiarizing a rap song christian for your successful theme Dark horse.
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The judge who investigated the case, after Perry’s team appealed the decision, said in the new verdict that the song allegedly plagiarized, Joyful Noise by Marcus Gray, it was not distinctive enough to be protected by copyright.
“It is indisputable in this case, even seeing the evidence that it is more favorable to the plaintiffs, than the characteristic elements of Joyful Noise they are not a particularly unique or rare combination, “says the new conclusion.
The plaintiff’s lawyers have already advanced to local media outlets that will appeal the new decision., against which there is still a possibility of appeal, since they consider that the previous judge “was right” and will “do everything possible to reestablish his verdict”.
Last August, the previous court fined Perry $ 2.78 million for plagiarism.
At that time, the artist had to pay $ 550,000 out of pocket, while the rest would be paid by her record label, Capitol Records, and other collaborators.
The sum of money would go to compensate singer Marcus Gray, who under the alias of Flame specialized in Christian-themed rap. and denounced both Perry and his creative team in 2014 for allegedly plagiarizing his song Joyful Noise.
This track, included on Flame’s Our World: Redeemed (2008) album, has a rhythm and base very similar to Perry’s success Dark horseSo much so that the American rapper decided to bring the pop star to court.
The artist claimed in his lawsuit that, if considered plagiarism, was entitled to receive the benefits achieved by the Perry theme, which were estimated at about $ 40 million. But the star’s defense argued that production, recording and exploitation costs, among others, should be subtracted from that amount.
Dark horse, which was part of the album Prism, is one of the great successes of Perry’s career and his video clip, inspired by ancient Egypt, accumulates more than 2.6 billion views on YouTube.
