Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven Lawsuit

JACLYN LICCONE
Oct 20, 2016
2 min read

[Image Source: Google Images]

There was a lawsuit filed in 2014 against Led Zeppelin's most famous song "Stairway to Heaven" for allegedly stealing the opening chords to Spirit's song "Tarus." This lawsuit comes from a trustee of the estate of Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe who died in 1997, but the man in control of his estate says Led Zeppelin ripped them off according to something Wolfe wrote before he died. The plaintiff in this case needed to prove that the introductions of the two songs are similar enough to indicate copyright infringement, and also to show that singer, Robert Plant and lead guitarist, Jimmy Page had access to "Taurus." Plant and Page were the only band members who were targeted in the case.

Listen to the two songs and compare them for yourself:

There is a lot that goes into filing copyright infringement and it takes time to get the situation under control. In this case, it was said that no one had the upper hand. Plant and Page refused to attend the trial in LA which means that lawyers had to use their video declarations instead, which were recorded in London at the band's request. This could have hurt their chances of winning because they weren't present. Both sides also had to be very careful at which evidence they used. This was key to making sure that they were best represented. The witnesses that were chosen was the next order of business and then a very long process to select the jury. It's difficult to select a jury that won't be biased when the court case involves one of the biggest bands in the world. It took two years from the time the lawsuit was filed to the trial to actually take place.

In June 2016, the jury decided that "Stairway" did not copy Spirit's "Taurus" after one day of deliberation. Zeppelin won the law case, which everyone in the music world had expected. An LA jury decided that the lawyer representing Wolfe did not prove that the famous Zeppelin stole the song's intro from Spirit's 1968 instrumental "Taurus."

Led Zeppelin is the best rock & roll band of all time, they are worshiped by all and will never be forgotten. Stairway was the best masterpiece created by Plant and Page that the music world has ever seen, and because they are so well respected and two incredible men, no lawsuit claiming false information could get in the way of their incredible music career.

[Source: Business Insider, James Cook]