(AllHipHop News) Katy Perry is officially appealing the verdict of her “Dark Horse” plagiarism case.
The pop star and her collaborators, including songwriters Dr. Luke and Max Martin, were found guilty of swiping segments from Marcus Gray’s Christian rap song “Joyful Noise” featuring Lecrae, back in July.
Her lawyers have filed for an appeal, claiming “the plaintiffs lack a copyright registration for the beat in question itself,” and that Gray couldn’t prove that their client had access to “Joyful Noise” before writing the pop song.
“Plaintiffs did not present any direct evidence of access or circumstantial evidence of a chain of events linking ‘Joyful Noise’ to the relevant authors of Dark Horse,” the appeal reads. “Nor did Plaintiffs present sufficient evidence of widespread dissemination of Joyful Noise that would give rise to a reasonable opportunity to hear Joyful Noise.”
The lawyers also claim one of the plaintiffs’ trial witnesses, musicologist Dr. Todd Tecker, “gave improper and highly prejudicial testimony,” and urged Judge Christina A. Snyder to throw out the jury’s verdict, order a new trial, and/or reduce the damages awarded to Gray.