A judge has overturned the ruling that claimed pop star Katy Perry’s song “Dark Horse” plagiarised the 2009 single “Joyful Noise” by Christian rapper Flame (real name Marcus Gray).
During the trial, Perry and her producer “Dr Luke” Gottwald claimed they hadn’t heard “Joyful Noise” before creating her song.
The appeal from Perry and her team called the $2.8m jury verdict “legally unsupportable” and “a grave miscarriage of justice”.
In the decision made this week, US district court judge Christina Snyder cited analysis from musicologist Todd Decker.
It was ultimately ruled that the eight-note sequence at the centre of the plagiarism charge was “not a particularly unique or rare combination” and therefore “not a protectable expression”.
The judgement follows a similar ruling for Led Zeppelin, where a federal court in California decided a new trial was not necessary in the band’s fight over their 1971 classic “Stairway to Heaven”. The jury’s ruling in the band’s favour stands.
