Led Zeppelin must face new trial claiming it stole 'Stairway' riff

By Jonathan Stempel

 

FILE PHOTO: Lead singer Robert Plant (L) and guitarist Jimmy Page of British rock band Led Zeppelin are seen October 9, 2012 and July 21, 2015 in New York and Toronto in this combination file photo. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri, Hans Deryk/File photos

 

(Reuters) - Led Zeppelin was ordered by a U.S. appeals court to face a new trial over whether it stole the opening guitar riff for its 1971 anthem "Stairway to Heaven" from an obscure instrumental written four years earlier.

 

In a 3-0 decision on Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco threw out a June 2016 verdict in the rock band's favor, citing a series of errors by the trial judge.

 

The decision revives one of the music industry's most closely-watched copyright cases, potentially exposing Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page to millions of dollars of damages.

Lawyers for the defendants had no immediate comment.

 

The lawsuit had been filed by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the songs of Randy Wolfe, a guitarist for the band Spirit.

 

Skidmore accused Plant, 70, and Page, 74, of stealing the iconic opening to "Stairway" from the Spirit song "Taurus."

 

He said the songs had similar chord progressions, and that Page may have written "Stairway" after hearing "Taurus" while Led Zeppelin and Spirit were touring together.

 

Wolfe, who performed as Randy California, had complained in interviews about the songs' similarities, but did not sue prior to his death by drowning in 1997.

 

Jurors determined that while Plant and Page, who testified at the trial, had access to "Taurus," the song's riff was not intrinsically similar to the opening of "Stairway."

 

But in Friday's decision, Circuit Judge Richard Paez said the trial judge erred in failing to instruct jurors that the trustee could prevail if Wolfe had created a "sufficiently original combination" of otherwise unprotectable music elements.

 

Paez also said the judge erred in instructing jurors about the copyrighting of music elements in the public domain, and should have let them listen to "Taurus" while Page testified, to assess his demeanor and help determine whether he had access.

 

"We do not dispute that Led Zeppelin is one of the greatest bands in history, but their plagiarism indelibly stains their legacy," Skidmore's lawyer Francis Malofiy said in an email.

 

“Led Zeppelin obviously copied 'Taurus' by Randy California, a musician they knew well," he added.

 

The case was returned to U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner in Los Angeles.

 

Friday's decision followed a March 21 copyright ruling by another 9th Circuit panel upholding a $5.3 million judgment to Marvin Gaye's children. They accused Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams of creating the 2013 smash "Blurred Lines" by copying Gaye's 1977 song "Got to Give It Up."

 

The case is Skidmore v Led Zeppelin et al, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 16-56057.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-09-29

 

Similar but you could also call the opening of Jim Croce's Time in a bottle similar.

A simple chord run can't be subject to copyright surely?

Listened to the Taurus song yesterday. I thought there were two or three instances of a few seconds each that were similar. But imo no way enough to constitute any reasonable argument of plagiarism.

imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

....aaand " let it grow" Eric Clapton....and and and.....they are alot of songs like this, so this is BS.

47 years ago, and the guy who was supposedly plagiarized is dead and had never sued while alive.

Disgusting leeches (the lawyers are).

 

This guy does a great job of comparing the tunes, I suppose there are only a few notes and chord progressions to go at. They seem similar, but not the same, IMO.

 

 

The decision by the 9th District Appeals Court was not based on lining up the melody notes and chords but one of court procedure and jury instructions.

 

BTW this is the same district federal court in which the Unsworth v Musk suit was recently filed and it seems they are very sticky on procedure.

LOVE Zep and the guys, but it's clearly a ripoff. Zero doubt about it in this one...and Zep has a history of doing just this very thing a few other times, from other artists and using in their music. This should be made right this time. 

In a documentary about himself, Donovan said that Hurdy Gurdy Man was the inspiration for Stairway to Heaven. He claims Bonham, Jones and Page all played on HGM as session musicians.

22 hours ago, loong said:

Similar but you could also call the opening of Jim Croce's Time in a bottle similar.

A simple chord run can't be subject to copyright surely?

Yes more like time in a bottle .

And if MY SWEET LORD was anything like HE'S SO FINE, my name is George Harrisong!

Well the LedZeps must have a happy bunch of lawyers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Led_Zeppelin_songs_written_or_inspired_by_others

2 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

LOVE Zep and the guys, but it's clearly a ripoff. Zero doubt about it in this one...and Zep has a history of doing just this very thing a few other times, from other artists and using in their music. This should be made right this time. 

all blues, or any music for that matter, or any human advancement at all, is based on what came before it

6 minutes ago, phycokiller said:

all blues, or any music for that matter, or any human advancement at all, is based on what came before it

The mantra of the copyleft.

17 hours ago, vogie said:

This guy does a great job of comparing the tunes, I suppose there are only a few notes and chord progressions to go at. They seem similar, but not the same, IMO.

Interesting Video, thank you for that.

after looking at that, I agree, for sure not the same. 
sounds like -once-in-a-life-time-chance-to-get-some-money- lawsuit.
would not be surprised if the Lawyers are on success fee only,
and in any case get their Firm's name in the News for sure and for free.

go figure ... 
Next one gets invited to Court for playing a pentatonic progression or a 12 bar blues in E.
(just showing off my understanding of the matter ????

1 hour ago, phycokiller said:

all blues, or any music for that matter, or any human advancement at all, is based on what came before it

And stealing what came before it in cases such as these is illegal. Called plagiarism. 

1 hour ago, KKr said:

go figure ... 

Don't have to -- you can read it:

https://cases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/16-56057/16-56057-2018-09-28.pdf

Apparently Led Zepp opened for Spirit and Vanilla Fudge in 1968 before they were famous.

 

An intersting article about it.

 

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/how-led-zeppelins-first-u-s-show-almost-didnt-happen/

it seems that piece is a public domain written in baroque era by harpist O'Carolan

 

https://musictales.club/article/celtic-baroque-roots-stairway-heaven

On 10/1/2018 at 11:44 AM, JLCrab said:

The mantra of the copyleft.

thats original

No -- I stole it.