In damages hearing, Capitol Records claims little profit on Katy Perry hit

While attorneys for Capitol Records Inc. said Tuesday they made only about $630,000 in profits from Katy Perry's 2013 hit "Dark Horse," opposing counsel claimed the record label was selling itself far too short.

Following a jury finding Monday that Perry's hit lifted elements of a song by Missouri-based Christian rapper FLAME, who sued Perry for infringement in 2015 under his real name Marcus Grey, the bifurcated federal trial shifted Tuesday to damages owed.

Not long after opening statements, U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder dismissed the jury for the day, reasoning the only testimony left to be offered would have to wait until Wednesday. That's when a representative for Capitol Records Inc., currently en route to Los Angeles, could testify to how costs associated with the song trimmed down their earnings to just a few hundred thousand dollars,

As for how much everyone else earned -- including Perry, who claims to have made $3.2 million from the song excluding costs -- the parties are all on the same page, per an agreement approved by Snyder Tuesday. Combined, non-Capitol defendants including Perry, record producer Dr. Luke, and UMC Recordings Inc. agreed they earned around $10 million for the song.

Gray argues Capitol itself made about three times more than that and roughly 50 times more than the $630,000 it claims to have made from the song. How much the parties earned is a critical element of the damages phase of the trial, as it will impact how the jury calculates what the plaintiffs are owed for the infringement.

The jury found Monday the defendants' work "contained material that was copied and distributed" from the musical composition of Gray's 2009 song "Joyful Noise." They also found "the concept and feel" of the two songs was substantially similar.

-- Steven Crighton