Katy Perry Wins in ‘Dark Horse’ Copyright Lawsuit Appeal

Katy Perry earned another victory in court.

The 37-year-old has been facing copyright litigation over her 2013 smash “Dark Horse” for years — and a federal appeals court just made a decision.

Back in 2014, a rapper named Marcus Gray sued Katy and accused her of stealing from his song “Joyful Noise.”

He was initially awarded a verdict, but a judge overturned the decision in 2020 ruling the rhythm Katy allegedly copied was too simple for copyright protection.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld that decision in a 3-to-0 vote, via Billboard, refusing to reinstate the $2.8 million copyright infringement verdict because the two songs share only basic musical “building blocks.”

“The portion of the Joyful Noise ostinato that overlaps with the Dark Horse ostinato consists of a manifestly conventional arrangement of musical building blocks,” the appeals court wrote.

“Allowing a copyright over this material would essentially amount to allowing an improper monopoly over two-note pitch sequences or even the minor scale itself.”

Well…good for Katy.