Led Zeppelin ordered to go back on trial in 'Stairway to Heaven' copyright lawsuit
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Led Zeppelin must go back on trial in a lawsuit that accuses the legendary rock band of ripping off the intro to its rock anthem "Stairway to Heaven" from a little-known 1960s instrumental, a federal appeals court ordered on Friday.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturned a 2016 jury verdict that found that the British band did not steal any original music from "Taurus," a 1968 track by the Los Angeles band Spirit.
Michael Skidmore, the trustee for Wolfe, has said Led Zeppelin lead vocalist Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page may have been inspired to write 1971's "Stairway" after hearing Spirit perform "Taurus" while the bands toured together in 1968 and 1969. Skidmore has claimed Wolfe never got any credit.
The defendants have said Wolfe was a songwriter for hire who did not have a copyright claim, and that the opening of "Stairway" — a descending chromatic four-chord progression — is a common musical convention that did not deserve copyright protection .
The jury in the 2016 trial found that the two songs were not substantially similar.
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What do you think? Here is a musician demonstrating the two songs.
And here are the two songs:
I think there are many similar patterns in songs. These two songs have similarities in the beginning but also have profound differences. Importantly, Stairway to Heaven -taken as a whole- is in no way shape or form stealing from Taurus. Totally different songs. The best we can see are certain patterns in the intros. Maybe Jimmy Page was inspired by Spirit / Taurus. Maybe select patterns stuck in his mind and he applied them (in the abstract) while composing Stairway. When we see copyright infringement taken down to select similar patterns in a wholly different aggregate product we have clearly gone too far.
Songs are going to have similarities. Artists will be influenced by other artist's works. Good grief.
I have to agree with you about this. This case seems like a way of making money post Randy's death. Other than a few opening notes the songs are nothing alike.
We only have 8 notes to work with.
Met Ed and Randy at a show one night in Denver where Randy had taped a flashlight to his guitar (black electrical tape). He thought it was the coolest thing ever. I thought it was more than a bit lame. Just more fresh garbage. Still love Spirit and Zeppelin and hope their lawyers aren't too cold blooded.
These cases often seem to promote a fiction that no one ever steals a riff or a chord progression from anyone. When you hear that a musician was "influenced" by someone else, this is very often what that means. I play guitar and I'm no composer, but any time I'm jamming with someone, I'm playing something I just copied from someone else. You might get Hendrix for a bar and then you'll hear something I learned from Dave Gilmore. It might only be for a bar or two, but it's definitely "stolen."
This thing with Stairway (I think) is kind of like that. OK, yeah, the four notes are the same, and they probably did get it from Taurus, but Stairway is a long complex song and there's a hell of a lot more to it than that one little phrase. The idea that Zeppelin owes anyone for that iconic composition is kind of absurd.
I think that ever since George Harrison was taken to court for "My Sweet Lord", this has been a problem. Even in that case, where the songs are far more similar, the judge awarded a very minimal amount of damages.
And if it weren't George Harrison or Jimmy Page, no one would care and there would be no law suit.
We finally agree on something.
Listening to them both and watching TJR play them anyone can see both the similarities and the differences. I think it's much like someone being inspired by a poem and writing their own.
"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May" - Shakespear
"I compared you to a summer’s day, did I not? Your self restraint, your loveliness: yet like a hurricane you do rip the petals from the tender rose of my heart." - Me.
Are they the same? Of course not, but most would be able to discern the latter was somewhat inspired by the former.
I think stairway was in fact inspired by Taurus, whether consciously or subconsciously. Does that mean Zeppelin should owe tons of money to a dead guitarists estate? Hell no, but I do think they should at least publicly acknowledge that they were inspired by the guitarist/band they toured with.
I think that is the most probable case. I don't see the song as being the same though and the spirit song is a short little diddy while Stairway is epic, with many different change ups. In fact, it is specifically a suite.
There’s a very smart guy who often appears on French TV, for all sorts of musical topics. One of his most typical (and entertaining) gigs is showing the resemblances among works of all natures, from classical to hard rock.
After a bunch of these "similarities", he asks, "What constitutes plagiarism?"
Exactly Bob. And one has to remember, for the most part, Zepplin was a blues band. Many of their riffs were blues. These are classic riffs. Of course, they are going to be repeated by someone else.
He is where I think Zep made a mistake, and I love Zep.
Unless I am missing something, they didn't give credit to something that was obviously pulled and re-presented in a different piece of music.
Zep had just toured with Spirit. Stairway to Heaven wasn't many years later. It was a real time association between the 2 bands.
Give credit. That's all and if I understood correctly, that is all that is the crux of the matter.
I am not sure that Page realized it. But if he did, then I agree with you.
If I understood your perspective here, I think Page would have to be an idiot not to know it.
The bands had just toured together. They shared the same stage during this time. To not know the similarity at the time Stairway to Heaven was written is more than questionable in my mind.
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As a musician, have to agree with Perrie. Blues is 1-4-5 and there are only a few options.
So it was a sore point but Randy never sued over it. He died and then his trust/estate sued?
No benefit to Randy is it?
"Roll over Beethoven". . .
Yeah, that is what bothers me. One has to realize that Randy's stepdad was also in the band and I think he is the one that is pushing it. He wants a piece of the pie.
This is a reach if I have ever seen one. This case needs to be tossed.
I had all of Spirits albums. Loved their sound. Loved Zeppelin until Physical Graffiti. The Am progression is a staple of rock, so is Em, but that doesn't mean you stole a riff, although it was common in the 60's. Just another lawyer hoping to make a dime.
Trivia: Any one know why Randy was called California?
He used to tour with Jimmy Hendrix when he was 15 - 16 years old and it was a nickname that Jimmy called him.
I look at it through the same lens as movies, books and the like.
When it's all said and done, most things have been said and done. Most all stories have been told, most all songs have been sung. Only with slight variations. There are thousands of songs that sound similar to me.
After decades, centuries and in some cases millennium, most things have already happened to someone, somewhere at some time. We may think we are unique yet with the billions of people that have lived and are living, it has all happened before.
There is no way to copy write a beat.
Taylor Swift is not the only one that has had a breakup and Eddie Van Halen is not the only one to strum an electric guitar.