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Earlier this summer, Christian rapper Flame successfully sued Katy Perry for $2.78 million on the grounds that her 2013 hit "Dark Horse" copied sonic elements of his (comparatively unheard) 2008 song "Joyful Noise." Now, Variety reports that Perry and her team have filed an appeal to the California court system, and they're hoping to get the case either retried or overturned.
"The erroneous verdicts in this case and the precedent established thereby present serious harm to music creators and to the music industry as a whole," asserts Perry's appeal. It goes on to question the popularity of "Joyful Noise," even suggesting that the track may not have even sold one copy: “Plaintiffs did not offer proof of one single digital or brick-and-mortar sale of ‘Joyful Noise'... and admitted that they have no such evidence... No reasonable factfinder could have concluded that ‘Joyful Noise’ was so well-known that it could be reasonably inferred that Defendants heard it, particularly in this digital age of content overload."
In the original trial, Perry was found liable alongside co-writers Sarah Hudson, Max Martin, Dr. Luke, Cirkut, and Juicy J. Also liable were Perry's label, Capitol Records, as well as Warner Bros. Music Corporation, Kobalt Publishing, and Kasz Money (Dr. Luke's publishing company). Head over here to read why the initial ruling could have major implications on the future of pop music.
