A Judge Rules Katy Perry Has To Pay Millions For Stealing Part Of ‘Dark Horse’

A jury has ruled that Katy Perry’s song “Dark Horse” stole heavily from a gospel song that came out 5 years earlier, and now she (and her collaborators and label) have to pay $2.78 million!

This legal battle has been going since July 2014, when Katy was sued by Christian rapper, Flame, claiming “Dark Horse” is a complete rip-off of his Grammy-nominated gospel song, “Joyful Noise.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCcW-guAs_s

According to the suit, Flame claims Perry also destroyed his reputation in Christian music circles because he’s now associated with the anti-Christian witchcraft and imagery that’s present in her “Dark Horse” music video.

When Katy took the stand last week, she claimed she never heard the song “Joyful Noise” before the filing of the lawsuit. She told the jury she initially heard the beats from Dr. Luke while they were drinking wine in Santa Barbara. Katy claimed she wrote “Dark Horse” in only 4 hours.

The case will now proceed to the damages phase, which will let Katy know how much money she has fork out.