Katy Perry Loses 'Dark Horse' Copyright Trial To Christian Rapper

Everybody loves a dark horse, eh Katy Perry?

According to the Associate Press, the odds were not in the pop star's favor after a nine-member jury found the singer and her team "improperly copied" Christian rapper Flame's 2008 song "Joyful Noise" for her 2013 hit "Dark Horse." A verdict was reached in the 34-year-old's copyright infringement lawsuit in a Los Angeles courtroom on Monday (July 29).

As of yet, the case has moved to a penalty phase, during which the jury determines how much Perry, Dr. Luke and Cirkut will owe in damages for the violation.

Essentially, the "underlying beat and instrumental line" from Flame's song was the deciding factor of the outcome in the dispute involving Perry's Grammy-nominated record. However, her attorneys argued the beat was "too common" to be protected by copyright and that such protection would be "detrimental to songwriters and music as a whole."

“They’re trying to own basic building blocks of music, the alphabet of music that should be available to everyone,” the artist's lawyer, Christine Lepera, said in closing arguments.

In a 35-minute account per ABC 7, Perry claimed she'd never heard "Joyful Noise" nor the plaintiffs behind the song when her team presented her the instrumentals. The musician even offered to "perform" the record live in light of technical difficulties her attorneys experienced attempting to play the track in the courtroom.

Even so, Emmanuel Lambert Jr., a.k.a. Da Truth, one of the co-writers behind Flame's tune, testified their song was widely available of streaming services. However, Billboard reports Perry countered with the argument that she would not have been aware of the Christian record, as she primarily listens to "secular music" despite her roots in the genre.

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