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KATY PERRY VS. FLAME LAWSUIT: Let’s Compare!

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A federal jury just ruled that “Dark Horse” copied a Christian rap song, and a music theory teacher wants to show you exactly why the case is closer than it sounds.

Two days after a Los Angeles jury found Katy Perry liable for copyright infringement in the “Dark Horse” lawsuit, YouTube educator Rick Beato published a note-by-note breakdown of the two songs at the center of the case. His video, “KATY PERRY VS. FLAME LAWSUIT: Let’s Compare!,” pulls apart the eight-note synth riff that jurors decided was substantially similar between Perry’s 2013 single and Christian rapper Flame’s 2008 track “Joyful Noise.” Beato isolates the riffs on his own instruments, measuring tempo, key, and note-by-note pitch to test whether the verdict actually holds up musically.

• On July 29, 2019, a federal jury in Los Angeles ruled that Katy Perry, along with Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Juicy J, infringed on the copyright of Flame (Marcus Gray) and co-writers Emanuel Lambert and Chike Ojukwu by copying elements of “Joyful Noise” in “Dark Horse.”
• The jury’s finding centered on the repetitive eight-note instrumental synth ostinato that anchors both tracks, with liability decided ahead of a separate damages phase.
• Beato’s analysis shows “Dark Horse” runs roughly 22 BPM slower than “Joyful Noise” (about 66 BPM versus the faster original), is played in a different key, and resolves its riff on scale degrees 1 and 5 (B-flat and E-flat) rather than the descending-to-root phrase used in “Joyful Noise.”

The Verdict That Started the Conversation

The jury’s decision landed as a genuine surprise in the music business, where descending minor-key riffs are about as common as four-on-the-floor kick drums. Flame’s team argued that Perry, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Juicy J lifted the beat and instrumental riff from “Joyful Noise” without credit or compensation, and the panel agreed there was substantial similarity between the two. What the jury did not settle that day was money — damages were left for a later phase of the trial, meaning the verdict established liability without yet putting a number on what Perry and her collaborators owe.

Beato’s Note-By-Note Teardown

Beato built his response the way he builds most of his channel’s content: by playing the actual notes instead of arguing in the abstract. He isolates the ostinato from each song on keys, walking through melodic contour, pitch, rhythm, and tempo side by side. The two riffs share a descending scalar shape across eighth notes, which is exactly what makes them sound alike on a casual listen — but Beato shows the details underneath diverge once you slow down and transcribe them.

The tempo gap alone is significant: “Dark Horse” sits at roughly 66 BPM, about 22 beats per minute slower than “Joyful Noise,” and the two are played in different keys. More importantly, Beato demonstrates that the phrases resolve differently. “Dark Horse” ends its riff on scale degrees 1 and 5 — B-flat and E-flat — while “Joyful Noise” follows a different descending path back to the root. Superficially the rhythmic cadence and synth timbre sound related; note for note, they’re not identical.

A descending minor-scale synth riff isn’t Flame’s invention or Katy Perry’s — it’s one of pop music’s most common building blocks, according to Beato’s breakdown.

The Copyright Question Beato Is Really Asking

The heart of Beato’s video isn’t really about picking a side in the lawsuit — it’s about whether a basic melodic fragment like this should be copyrightable at all. He points out that descending minor-scale ostinatos of this exact type show up constantly across pop, R&B, and hip-hop production, functioning less like an original composition and more like a musical building block anyone can reach for. That argument doesn’t undo the jury’s verdict, but it explains why so many working musicians and producers reacted to the “Dark Horse” ruling with genuine alarm about where the line on musical “ownership” actually sits.

It’s the kind of scrutiny that follows Perry into most corners of her career at this point — for a broader look at how she’s handled friction with people around her, see the rundown of people Katy Perry treated like trash. And for context on how other artists have weathered public and legal fallout without it derailing their careers, the profile on musicians who are nothing like they seem is worth a look.

With liability decided and damages still unresolved, the number Flame’s side eventually seeks — and what a jury is willing to award for an eight-note riff — is the next real milestone in this case, and it’s the figure every producer watching this ruling is waiting to see.