Katy Perry Sued: Lawsuit Accuses Singer Of Copyright Infringement

Katy Perry was reportedly sued by several Christian musicians for allegedly borrowing quite a few elements for a 2008 rap song.

Although the singer started her career cranking out music for the faithful masses, Perry soon discovered she could make a lot more money in the world of pop music. According to the New York Daily News, a handful of Christian rappers believe Katy stole bits and pieces of their tune “Joyful Noise” and dipped them in a vat of “black magic.” The end result of her supposed theft was the controversial track “Dark Horse.”

FOX News reports that Marcus Gray (aka Flame), Chike Ojukwu, Chike Ojukwu, and Emanuel Lambert filed the lawsuit against Katy Perry, Capitol Records, and Juicy J on July 1. Also named in the suit are producers Dr. Luke and Cirkut, as well as songwriters Max Martin and Sarah Theresa Hudson.

The musicians explained in court documents:

“And by any measure, the devoutly religious message of ‘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.’ Indeed, the music video of ‘Dark Horse’ generated widespread accusations of blasphemy and an online petition signed by more than 60,000 demanding removal of an offensive religious image from the video.”

In addition to suing Katy Perry for unspecified damages, the Christian musicians are asking that the singer remove the offending content from her song. Neither Perry nor her representatives have responded to the lawsuit as of this writing.

Although it didn’t result in Katy Perry getting sued, this isn’t the first time “Dark Horse” has landed the singer in hot water. The Inquisitr previously reported that the “Allah” pendant that catches fire in the music video for the aforementioned song rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. It didn’t take long for the record label to take care of the problem.

Shazad Iqbal, the man responsible for starting a campaign for the pendant’s removal from the clip, was understandably thrilled with Perry and company’s decision.

“Guys I’m thrilled to let you all know the name of Allah has been removed from the ‘Dark Horse’ video we couldn’t have done it without everyone’s support so I thank each and every one of you deeply, our voices have been heard! God bless you all.”

Are you surprised Katy Perry is getting sued for copyright infringement? Do you think the singer borrowed from the song “Joyful Noise” to craft her hit “Dark Horse”?

[Image via Bing]