Judge Clears Stairway To Heaven Copyright For Trial

[Duckfan]

Source: Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A trial is needed to determine if Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" copies its opening notes from a song performed by the rock band Spirit, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S District Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled Friday that lawyers for the trustee of late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe had shown enough evidence to support a case that "Stairway to Heaven" copies music from the Spirit song "Taurus."

"Taurus" was written by Wolfe in either 1966 or 1967, years before Led Zeppelin released "Stairway to Heaven" in 1971. Klausner wrote that while the songs have some differences, lawyers for Wolfe's trustee may be able to prove they are substantially similar.

Led Zeppelin and Spirit performed at some concerts and festivals around the same time, but not on the same stage. Klausner wrote that the evidence presented so far represented a circumstantial case that Led Zeppelin may have heard "Taurus" performed before "Stairway to Heaven" was created.

Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/judge-clears-stairway-to-heaven-copyright-case-for-trial/ar-BBrDoPS?ocid=ansmsnent11

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Why is this case coming out now? The "trustee" apparently has a lot of time on their hands.

[yallerdawg]

1. A note progression?

Christ, that is rock 'n' roll!

[starroute]

2. Here's "Taurus"

And yes, there is a bit at the 45 second mark that uses the same repeated four notes as the opening of "Stairway to Heaven." But really? Four notes?

[thereismore]

4. It's a lot more than 4. nt

[drm604]

7. Correct.

I can't see how it can possibly be a coincidence.

[jberryhill]

11. .

[thesquanderer]

22. I'll see your Jim Croce and raise you Mary Poppins.

[jberryhill]

30. Call

&nohtml5=False

[Ron Obvious]

32. It works with 'Amazing Grace' too

[jberryhill]

40. Oh man, how about a trigger warning, eh?

You know, the North Koreans are the world champs in "let's get kids to sing weird stuff" department.

[JackRiddler]

16. Of course it's not coincidence.

I'm all for them getting some money too, but the larger issue is that music and arts is all about borrowing and remixing. Copyrights need serious reform. So does the system of distributing the rewards.

[ripcord]

39. I'm not sure about money

but they should get some kind of creative credit.

[jberryhill]

10. Agree with the comment above - it's much more than four notes

Both access and similarity are established so far.

[thereismore]

3. Why? Because justice is important, and Led Zeppelin stole a lot of other music. All but one songs

from their first album. Youtube has plenty of evidence.

[cstanleytech]

5. I thought that there was a 3 year statute of limitations for seeking a copyright lawsuit?

Even if there isnt since this song was released over 45 years ago I think by their not trying to sue back then I would consider it a waiver by them due to their lack of action.

[jberryhill]

9. No

That's a retrospective licensing limitation on how far back damages can be calculated in certain cases involving use of music in commercial establishments.

[onenote]

12. Copyright statute of limitations explained

Under copyright law, the statute of limitations is applied based on a "separate-accrual rule." Thus, as the Supreme Court stated in a 2014 decision, "when a defendant commits successive violations, the statute of limitations runs from each violation. Each time an infringing work is reproduced or distributed, the infringer commits a new wrong."

[Dr. Strange]

36. It's a remastered version.

Skidmore was able to overcome statute-of-limitations hurdles to sue over "Stairway to Heaven" because the song was remastered and re-released in 2014.

[cstanleytech]

37. Still sounds like a BS lawsuit since they didnt sue back when it was first released but

thats simply my opinion.

[jberryhill]

41. One thing about lawsuits...

...is that they are a whole lot easier to deal with if you have some money and time to spend doing nothing productive.

[Canoe52]

6. I also hear

Moody Blues themes in that song.

[saturnsring]

8. spirit should be thanking zep otherwise we wouldnt have heard of them

[JunkYardDogg]

15. You have no f'n idea of what you said

Obviously, you have NEVER listened to Spirit, or you would not have made such an asinine statement
Spirit was one good band

You should listen to them and maybe learn something about music

[independentpiney]

21. I wouldn't have remembered that song and the part Page lifted from it

but I remember Spirit, as do many others who weren't in diapers or a twinkle in their Dads eye at the time.

[saturnsring]

23. well i wasnt in diapers - i dont remember them but i do remember zeppelin

[independentpiney]

13. I have no doubt Page stole it.

Other than being a technically highly skilled guitarist who had a few bursts of creativity, Jimmy Page is, and always has been the scum of the earth.

[JackRiddler]

17. Stole is relative.

Something tells me Spirit didn't invent it either.

As I believe Muddy Waters said, "it came from the fields."

RIP : A Remix Manifesto
https://vimeo.com/8040182

[independentpiney]

20. I'm sure with Spirit "it came from the fields"

With Jimmy Page, I think it was more of a steal, and compensation and imo inclusion in the songwriting credits for Stairway is warranted. I completely agree with your post #7.

I'm about 20 minutes into the video, very interesting.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

27. Why is he the scum of the earth?

[NobodyHere]

42. Well he's a statutory rapist for one

[JunkYardDogg]

14. They were a really good band

They were a L.A. band, out of the Topanga Canyon area and their music was very creative and interesting
Good musicians, good songs , a band really worth listening to

Jay Ferguson and Mark Andes left Spirit and formed JoJoGunne, one of the absolute best pure rock bands you will ever hear

Without a doubt, the opening chords are definitely a rip off from Spirit, no question
BTW, this evidently surfaced in 2014

[alfredo]

18. Not too far a stretch, but this is similar.

Led Zepelin borrowed heavily from Celtic legends

[Wibly]

19. sharing, not coopting

Sounds like a case of, to quote Jackson Browne, 'just do the steps you've been shown by everyone you've ever known until the dance becomes your very own.'
I doubt very much that Plante and the boys lifted a lick from Taurus and went: Yeah, let's just co-opt that.

[Codeine]

28. Why would you doubt it?

They built their entire catalog on the outright theft of the work of others. Shameless ripoff artists.

[sofa king]

29. They did a lot of "sharing," and eventually paid for much of it.

Regarding Whole Lotta Love: "Page's riff was Page's riff. It was there before anything else. I just thought, 'well, what am I going to sing?' That was it, a nick. Now happily paid for. At the time, there was a lot of conversation about what to do. It was decided that it was so far away in time and influence that...well, you only get caught when you're successful. That's the game."

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

As far as just co-opting that, hell yeah they did that too. It was not until 2010 that they finally paid for Dazed and Confused, which they lifted from Jake Holmes, who toured with the Yardbirds.

And of course every British guitar hero stole liberally from Albert King. Because Albert King is the shnite! You should be able to hear Beck, Clapton and Page in these three minutes:

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. Based on the first four notes, these two are almost the same tune

[sofa king]

31. Or one of my favorites:

Tchaikovsky's Arabian Dance...

... Which inspired Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington to do Caravan for Barney Bigard and his Jazzopators...

... And then 24 years later Ellington and Strayhorn came back and did their own version of the Nutcracker, including "Arabesque Cookie"

And they are all wonderful, wildly different, amazing cousins of one another.

[jberryhill]

34. Did you know it's actually from the Polyvetsian Dances #2 by Borodin?

[Yavin4]

25. In music, writing, and probably most of the arts, copying happens all of the time

Same for writing code for computers.

[cbdo2007]

26. Any musician can easily see that the songs are different....

sure they sound a little bit similar, but Zeppelin added another melody to it. Here is great Youtube explaining the similarities and differences between the two songs. Essentially it would be like drawing the outline of a head and claiming it was a ripoff of the Mona Lisa.

[Stryder]

33. I heard about that years ago

Not the law suite, that's new.
Actually I read an article way back, where
Wolfe was asked about it and after a bit of a pause
said something to the effect of, "Well...
let's just call it the biggest coincidence in Rock history."
He was definitely aware of it but was willing to let it slide.
Evidently this is a trustee bringing the suit.

[Politicalboi]

35. How about this one

I guess since Disney owns ABC then they can do what they want.

[Hotler]

38. Is this the same Spirit with Ed Cassidy and Randy California?

I have a vinyl copy of Kaptian Kopter and the fabulous Twirly birds.

[Adrahil]

43. This should get laughed out of court.

Seriously? FFS, guys.

[ProfessorGAC]

44. Pretty Fair Musician Here

Piano and guitar (and bass, but that's just a combination of the other two.)

Of course, there is a similarity, but we're talking about 12 tones and chord structures based upon western musical values. In my mind, there is not close to enough similarity for a lawsuit to be worthy.