Hear her roar: Katy Perry prevails in infringement suit

A federal appeals court on Thursday said pop superstar Katy Perry and her team were not liable to a hip-hop artist who claimed they copied her No. 1 hit "Dark Horse" from his Christian rap song, according to Reuters.

In a unanimous decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the artist Flame, whose given name is Marcus Gray, did not deserve damages for copyright infringement over a musical pattern he accused Ms. Perry of borrowing from his song "Joyful Noise."

The Pasadena, California-based court said the eight-note pattern, known as an ostinato, consisted "entirely of commonplace musical elements" that lacked the "quantum of originality" needed for copyright protection.

A Los Angeles jury had in July 2019 awarded Flame and two other plaintiffs $2.79 million, including $550,000 from Perry and $1.29 million from her label Capitol Records, part of Universal Music Group. A judge in March 2020 set aside that verdict.