Katy Perry “guilty” of stealing Christian music for her single `Dark Horse´

After five years, a nine-member federal jury in a Los Angeles courtroom gave unanimous verdict on Monday. Katy Perry is “guilty” of stealing beat from “Joyful Noise,” a song Marcus Gray released under the stage name Flame.

Marcus Gray and two co-authors, first sued in 2014 alleging “Dark Horse” stole from “Joyful Noise”.

“Dark Horse” was the third single of the pop star´s 2013 album “Prism”. It spent four weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in early 2014.

Gray’s attorneys said the beat and instrumental line featured through nearly half of “Dark Horse” are  similar to those of “Joyful Noise”.

The defendants’ musical expert said that the musical patterns in dispute were as simple as “Mary Had a Little Lamb”.

In conclusion, the jury found that the bumping beat and riff at the center of “Joyful Noise” were original enough to be copyrighted.

Marcus Gray´s song:

Katy Perry´s song: