Katy Perry took the stand on the first day of her copyright infringement trial for her song, "Dark Horse," featuring Juicy J.
The pop star, in her testimony on Thursday, said that herself and the song's creators, which include Dr. Luke, real name Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Juicy J and Sarah Hudson, had never heard of "Joyful Noise" or of Gray before the lawsuit.
"I could perform it for you live," Perry said after her attorneys encountered technical difficulties with playing "Dark Horse" throughout the courtroom.
Gray's attorney Michael Khan, in his opening statement, said his clients need to only prove that access to "Joyful Noise" was possible by Perry and her team and that innocent infringement is enough to rule in their favor.
Da Truth, real name Emmanuel Lambert Jr., who co-wrote "Joyful Noise," also took the stand and said the track was a hit in the Christian music scene and was widely available on platforms such as YouTube.Perry's attorney Christine Lepera said that there is no evidence that "Joyful Noise" was widely distributed and that her clients would have heard it due to the song's obscurity.
She also argued that the underlying beat is too common and short to be copyright protected.
