'Dark Horse': how a $2.8M verdict against Katy Perry was wiped out over an unoriginal ostinato
The Ninth Circuit has upheld the decision to throw out a jury's $2.8 million copyright verdict against Katy Perry, holding that the eight-note figure 'Dark Horse' shares with Flame's 'Joyful Noise' is built entirely from commonplace musical elements. The opinion is the clearest plain-English account yet of how courts separate a song's building blocks from what a songwriter can own.
Artist rightsvia U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit