The ruling that pop star Katy Perry's song Dark Horse copied from a Christian rap song could lead to further claims that the music industry's most popular songs are guilty of infringements. The recent case, in which damages of $2.8m were awarded, and the 2013 trial over the song Blurred Lines have helped potentially to extend musical infringement past just melody and lyrics to include a song's feel as well. Now music attorneys are concerned that artists will be unfairly punished for using generic musical elements, with older records becoming more valuable if they are infringed upon by modern singer-songwriters.
The ruling that pop star Katy Perry's song Dark Horse copied from a Christian rap song could lead to further claims that the music industry's most popular songs are guilty of infringements. The recent case, in which damages of $2.8m were awarded, and the 2015 trial over the song Blurred Lines have helped potentially to extend musical infringement past just melody and lyrics to include a song's feel as well. Now music attorneys are concerned that artists will be unfairly punished for using generic musical elements, with older records becoming more valuable if they are infringed upon by modern singer-songwriters.