Christian hip-hop musicians from St. Louis and elsewhere sued pop singer Katy Perry, Capitol Records and others in federal court here Tuesday, claiming that Perry’s song “Dark Horse” ripped off their 2008 song.
The suit says that Perry and her co-writers infringed the copyright of the Christian song “Joyful Noise” and have exploited and profited from its use.
It also says that “Joyful Noise” has been “irreparably tarnished by its association with the witchcraft, paganism, black magic, and Illuminati imagery evoked by the same music in ‘Dark Horse’.” ()
“Joyful Noise” was written in 2007 and released in 2008. The song received a 2008 Gospel Music Association Dove Award nomination for the best rap/hip-hop song, the suit says.
Eric Kayira, one of the lawyers for the hip-hop artists, said that comparisons of the songs “percolated” various places online and eventually made their way to the performers’ ears.
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