Led Zeppelin - Win 'Stairway To Heaven' Jury Trial
As previously reported here and here, Led Zeppelin have been under fire and were accused of stealing the opening notes of their most famous song, "Stairway To Heaven," from the band Spirit. But now they have won the lawsuit. A Los Angeles jury has decided the band did not steal the opening to its classic anthem "Stairway To Heaven" from the album Led Zeppelin IV.
The federal jury reached its verdict Thursday, settling a point that music fans have debated for decades but didn't find its way to court until two years ago.
The trust for the late songwriter Randy Wolfe claimed Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant stole a riff from Wolfe's 1968 instrumental "Taurus" recorded with the band Spirit.
Page, Plant and bassist John Paul Jones all testified in the case, providing anecdotes about the 1971 creation of "Stairway To Heaven." Page declared in court: "Prior to hearing a recording of 'Taurus' in 2014 in connection with this matter, I have never heard 'Taurus' or even heard of it. I am very good at remembering music and am absolutely certain that I never heard 'Taurus' until 2014."
Experts who testified for the trust said the two songs bear striking similarities, while defense experts said they shared a common musical building block.
The jury after less than a day's worth of deliberation has decided in favor of Led Zeppelin and various subsidiaries of Warner Music. The jury was not legally allowed to hear the original recordings of "Stairway To Heaven" and "Taurus" in determining their verdict. Instead, they heard an expert perform both songs based on the original sheet music.
After the verdict, Page and Plant put out a joint statement. "We are grateful for the jury's conscientious service and pleased that it has ruled in our favor, putting to rest questions about the origins of 'Stairway to Heaven' and confirming what we have known for 45 years," they said. "We appreciate our fans' support, and look forward to putting this legal matter behind us."
The federal jury reached its verdict Thursday, settling a point that music fans have debated for decades but didn't find its way to court until two years ago.
The trust for the late songwriter Randy Wolfe claimed Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant stole a riff from Wolfe's 1968 instrumental "Taurus" recorded with the band Spirit.
Page, Plant and bassist John Paul Jones all testified in the case, providing anecdotes about the 1971 creation of "Stairway To Heaven." Page declared in court: "Prior to hearing a recording of 'Taurus' in 2014 in connection with this matter, I have never heard 'Taurus' or even heard of it. I am very good at remembering music and am absolutely certain that I never heard 'Taurus' until 2014."
Experts who testified for the trust said the two songs bear striking similarities, while defense experts said they shared a common musical building block.
The jury after less than a day's worth of deliberation has decided in favor of Led Zeppelin and various subsidiaries of Warner Music. The jury was not legally allowed to hear the original recordings of "Stairway To Heaven" and "Taurus" in determining their verdict. Instead, they heard an expert perform both songs based on the original sheet music.
After the verdict, Page and Plant put out a joint statement. "We are grateful for the jury's conscientious service and pleased that it has ruled in our favor, putting to rest questions about the origins of 'Stairway to Heaven' and confirming what we have known for 45 years," they said. "We appreciate our fans' support, and look forward to putting this legal matter behind us."
Taken from the band's website
| nbcnews.com | |
| Band profile: | Led Zeppelin |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Quote: I call bullshit, since Led Zep had played with Spirit live and Spirit had Taurus on their setlist at the time.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| larksinmyhead Posts: 4 |
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| qlacs "The Quaker" Posts: 1547  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 24.06.2016 at 15:34 Proof?
---- 
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by qlacs on 24.06.2016 at 17:00 Not sure oif they played at at that particular gig, but the band did play it live quite often at the time. And Spirit did ply with Led Zeppelin on at least one occasion. So, I really doubt Page had never heard the song, since he was familiar with the band.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
But I find it totally preposterous that the band decided to sue Led Zep some 40 odd years after the fact.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| BloodTears ANA-thema Elite Posts: 11835  |
Yeah, it all seems a bit doubtful to do it now.
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| Karlabos Posts: 5735  |
So after two long years of spending money on such process they finally managed to figure out the obvious
---- "Aah! The cat turned into a cat!" - Reimu Hakurei
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| Dave FC Posts: 199  |
It is well known that Page 'used to play' (at the beginning of their career) too many riffs from other classic bands to build up his songs! just listen to Led Zep II... I call it bullshit too. But I really don't care.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989  |
Even if they had sued them one year after the fact it still would've been ridiculous. So the first 2 minutes or so of Stairway bear slight resemblance to Taurus, big whoop. There's still 6 additional minutes that don't sound even slightly like anything from Taurus, so it's pretty ridiculous to sue a band because "ooooh, two minutes of one their songs happens to have the same chord progression as one of ours!" If Stairway was an exact replica of Taurus, that'd be a different story, but it's anything but
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| psykometal A staff guy... Elite Posts: 6101  |
Sounded like a lame ass attempt at a cash grab from the outset. Don't particularly care if Zep did it or not, the fact Spirit waited 40 fuckin' years to speak up is just too effin' bad.
---- ~Zep, Database and Forum Moderation~ 
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| M C Vice ex-polydactyl Posts: 3407  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 24.06.2016 at 17:14 Wasn't it the song writer's estate (read: descendents) who sued, not the band? I assume they already spent all daddy's royalties, so they tried to get more.
---- "Another day, another Doug." "I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples." " 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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| Enteroctopus Posts: 155  |
ABC is the same a Twinkle Little Star! LAWSUIT!!! If they're so outraged over this, why wait 40 years to bring it to court?
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| M C Vice ex-polydactyl Posts: 3407 |
Written by Enteroctopus on 29.06.2016 at 16:20 See above.
---- "Another day, another Doug." "I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples." " 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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| dedindi Posts: 1 |
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