Katy Perry’s number one hit ‘Dark Horse’ is subject to a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Christian rap artist Flame.
The complaint, filed at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on July 1, alleges that the hit song infringes his track ‘Joyful Noise’, released in 2008.
The claim also states that the song ‘Joyful Noise’ has been “irreparably tarnished” by Perry’s use of “witchcraft, paganism, black magic and Illuminati imagery” in the music video for the song.
The artist is seeking a permanent injunction that would stop Perry distributing the song as well as compensation for the injuries suffered from its alleged infringement.
In 2009, Flame received a Grammy nomination for the album One World: Redeemed, which featured the song ‘Joyful Noise’.
An online petition calling for YouTube to remove the track from its site attracted more than 60,000 signatures. They complained over the “portrayal of blasphemy” in the video, as a man wearing a pedant with ‘Allah’ written on it is engulfed in flames.