Gray v. Perry

Gray v. Perry
CourtUnited States District Court for the Central District of California
Full case name Marcus Gray et. al. v. Katy Perry et. al
DecidedAugust 13, 2018 (summary judgment denied)
July 29, 2019 (jury verdict)
March 16, 2020 (judgment as a matter of law granted, verdict vacated)
Docket nos.2:15-cv-05642
Citations2017 WL 1240740 (partial summary judgment granted)
2018 WL 3954008 (summary judgment denied)
2020 WL 1275221 (judgment as a matter of law granted, verdict vacated)
28 F.4th 87 (affirming grant of judgment as a matter of law on appeal to the Ninth Circuit)
Case history
Appealed toUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Court membership
Judge sittingChristina A. Snyder
Keywords
Substantial similarity

Marcus Gray et al. v. Katy Perry et al. was a copyright infringement lawsuit against Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson ("Katy Perry"), Jordan Houston ("Juicy J"), Lukasz Gottwald ("Dr. Luke"), Karl Martin Sandberg ("Max Martin"), Henry Russell Walter ("Cirkut"), Capitol Records and others, in which the plaintiffs Marcus Gray ("Flame"), Emanuel Lambert ("Da' T.R.U.T.H.") and Chike Ojukwu alleged that Perry's song "Dark Horse" infringed their exclusive rights in their song "Joyful Noise" pursuant to 17 U.S.C § 106.[1]

The focus of the similarity was a short descending pattern known in music as an "ostinato".[2] In both songs, a short ostinato is used repeatedly to form part of the beat of each song and both ostinatos share similar descending shapes.[3] Gray et al. claimed that the instrumental beat of the ostinato in "Joyful Noise" was protectable original expression and that Perry et al. had access to and copied the ostinato when composing "Dark Horse."[4]

On March 16, 2020, Judge Christina A. Snyder ultimately found that Gray et al. had failed to satisfy the extrinsic test for substantial similarity, overturning a previous jury verdict which had sided with the plaintiffs.[5] Snyder's ruling was affirmed on appeal.[6]

  1. ^ 17 U.S.C. § 106.
  2. ^ Gray v. Perry, No. 2:15-cv-05642 (C.D. Cal.), Wais Declaration in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment, Exhibit 3 Expert Report of Todd Decker (April 6, 2017)
  3. ^ Wong, Chelsea; Huthwaite, Thomas (July 31, 2017). "This "Dark Horse" decision is anything but "Joyful Noise" for Katy Perry". www.baldwins.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Tapscott, Rebecca (March 21, 2020). "District Court: Katy Perry's 'Dark Horse' Not Substantially Similar to 'Joyful Noise'". IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  5. ^ Gray v. Perry, No. 2:15-cv-05642, 2020 WL 1275221 (C.D. Cal. March 16, 2020).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).