Appeals court sides with Katy Perry in Dark Horse song-theft case

completemusicupdate.com:

The Ninth Circuit appeals court in the US yesterday sided with Katy Perry in the big old ‘Dark Horse’ song theft case. The musical elements Perry’s hit has in common with earlier track ‘Joyful Noise’ were “commonplace” and therefore not protected by copyright in isolation, judges concluded.

The ruling confirms that the US appeals court where many song-theft disputes end up remains cautious about over-extending copyright protection in a way that could hinder the songwriting process.Christian rapper Marcus Gray sued Perry and her songwriting collaborators all the way back in 2014, arguing that her 2013 hit ‘Dark Horse’ ripped off his 2008 track ‘Joyful Noise’.

The two songs both contain the same repeating ostinato, described by the Perry side in legal filings as “merely two pitches that repeat – a C and B note – on evenly spaced notes, in a sparse setting, played on a synthesiser”.When the dispute ended up before a jury in the Californian courts, they sided with Gray, concluding that ‘Dark Horse’ did indeed infringe ‘Joyful Noise’.

They then ordered Perry et al to pay Gray and his team $2.8 million in damages. However, the judge overseeing the original case – Christina Snyder – then overturned the jury’s decision on the basis that the Gray side’s arguments that the shared ostinato was protected by copyright in isolation failed as a matter of law.Synder’s March 2020 decision came shortly after the Ninth Circuit’s landmark ruling on the ‘Stairway To Heaven’ song-theft case, which arguably set a precedent on the copyright status of short musical segments, concluding they don’t usually have copyright protection.Perry’s team had used that ‘Stairway’ judgement to bolster their case for why Snyder should overturn the jury’s.