Rapper Awarded $2.78 Million over Katy Perry Track

A US gospel rapper embroiled in a copyright lawsuit involving a Katy Perry song has been awarded $2.78 million in damages.

In the lawsuit, Marcus Gray claimed that Perry copied the beat and instrumentals from his 2009 song, “Joyful Noise”, and used them for “Dark Horse” – a song recorded for her 2013 album, “Prism”.

Gray – along with two of his co-writers – filed the lawsuit in 2014. After surviving a series of legal stumbles, the case finally went to trial on 19 July this year.

While testifying during the trial, Perry claimed that she had never listened to “Joyful Noise” prior to recording “Dark Horse” with producers Dr Luke, Max Martin and Cirkut.

Nevertheless, a nine-member jury at a federal court in Los Angeles, California, found Perry – as well as her collaborators and her record label, Capitol Records – guilty of copyright infringement earlier this week.

On Thursday, 1 August, the jury ordered them to pay $2.78 million to Gray.

Of this amount, Perry herself must pay the rapper approximately $550 000, while Capitol Records will pay the rest.