Manatt’s Robert Jacobs, leader of the firm’s entertainment litigation practice, spoke to the Daily Journal on a decision in a recent music infringement lawsuit filed against pop singer Katy Perry.
A federal jury decided last week that Perry and other defendants will have to pay $2.78 million to Christian rapper Marcus Gray, aka FLAME, for sampling 16 seconds of music from his 2009 song “Joyful Noise” for Perry’s 2013 hit song “Dark Horse.”
Jacobs said that the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit has the opportunity to address uncertainties about music infringement in an upcoming case.
The appellate court is set to rehear the appeal of a case against rock band Led Zeppelin for alleged music infringement in their song “Stairway to Heaven” in June, following a reversal of the band’s district court victory in 2018.
“The appeals court has an opportunity in connection with their en banc hearing of the Led Zeppelin case to lay sound ground rules and make the Ninth Circuit’s law more sensible,” Jacobs said.