Led Zeppelin Ordered to go back on trial in 'Stairway to heaven' copyright lawsuit.

[Maxheader]

Source: Nbc news..

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.

"Taurus" was written by the late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe, better known as Randy California, whose trust brought the copyright infringement lawsuit.

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.

But the federal appeals court panel that overturned the 2016 ruling held that parts of the jury instructions in that trial were erroneous and prejudicial. The appeals court also found that the U.S. district court that decided the first trial abused its discretion by not allowing recordings of "Taurus" to be played during the proceedings.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/led-zeppelin-ordered-go-back-trial-stairway-heaven-copyright-lawsuit-n914831

---

Always the attempt to take down one of the greatest bands

eva...

[Zorro]

1. It's a BS money grubbing lawsuit

but there is a striking similarity with "Taurus".

[sweetloukillbot]

6. There's a Davy Graham instrumental thats pretty similar as well

And Graham was a big influence on Page. And Zep did "borrow" a lot of their earlier material
But this lawsuit seems pretty frivolous - the other lawsuits were 30+ years ago, why wait so long for a lawsuit on their most famous riff?

[TexasBushwhacker]

8. I agree. If Randy Wolfe wanted to sue, he had plenty of time to when he was alive

He chose not to. That his "estate" is allowed to sue is ridiculous.

[JI7]

2. they should just pay some settlement and end this

[unblock]

3. as a matter of law, how can you now allow both songs to be played?

Last edited Fri Sep 28, 2018, 10:14 PM - Edit history (1)

how the hell is a jury to have a clue?

ok, based solely on the competing witness and expert testimony, fine.

but then, how is the jury to evaluate if they think the witnesses are telling the truth?


having no opinion about the merits of the case itself, i agree with the appellate decision.


on edit: ok, just listened to taurus.
if this is a copyright violation, so is half the beatles' catalog.
they often found a song or singer they liked and wrote a similar song.
evocative of the first, but not a steal.

"i'm down" is clearly evocative of little richard, but it's not a theft of anything specific he wrote.
"lady madonna" was clearly inspired by "bad penny blues", but it's different enough to not be a theft.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Both bands are great. Still have their LPs. I think LZ will win again.

The "Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus" is a great album to listen to from end to end. It is brilliant with a tremendous dynamic range and several styles. Do not get the CD with the bonus tracks, just the original set of tracks.

Led Zeppelin won in part because the form and general progression of the intro is similar to a lot of old music including a 350 year old lute piece (below).

I like Led Zep so much I have the first 9 albums on vinyl (all except Coda below).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Dreams_of_Dr._Sardonicus

https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/did-350-year-old-song-influence-stairway-heaven

Attorneys for Jimmy Page and Robert Plant have argued that the distinctive opening guitar passage of “Stairway to Heaven” uses a common progression that has been around for hundreds of years.

In fact, a composition by Italian composer Giovanni Battista Granata uses this same progression—and nearly the same melody heard in “Stairway to Heaven.” The work, “Sonata di Chittarra, e Violino, con il suo Basso Continuo,” was composed in 1659.

The passage, which occurs at the 0:32 mark in the video below, is strikingly similar to the “Stairway to Heaven” intro and has more in common with it than “Taurus,” the 1968 instrumental composition by the group Spirit that Page and Plant are accused of plagiarizing.

Now 357 years old, Granata’s composition is in the public domain and not subject to copyright.

Listen carefully as 0:32 rolls around:

[ProudLib72]

7. I can hear it in Granata really clearly

I had to look up another vid to help me follow the Spirit complaint:

[Trust Buster]

5. Greatest song in rock history.

[Harker]

9. Led Zeppelin had a dodgy history of "borrowing" from blues artists

without attribution. Using the three note "My Sweet Lord" / "He's So Fine" precedent, this should have been an easy call the first time around.

Not as obvious, maybe, as the bass line from "Under Pressure" / "Ice Ice Baby", but it sure sounds ripped off to me.

[LiberalLovinLug]

12. Thing is, artists "rip off" other artists all the time

That is how art progresses. In the visual arts and in the musical arts.

Like a conversation with a group. One person tells a story, that reminds someone else of a similar story, which propels the conversation along. It has always been so.

Led Zeppelin had the ability to take older blues songs, and even other melodies that they may have heard, and transform them into bold new creations. One cannot mistake the Led Zeppelin sound.

I think the whole Zeppelin stole all their music rather absurd. They never would have achieved what they did without being super talented already. They are no Milli Vanilli.

[Harker]

14. I have all of Zep's recordings on CD.

I like their music and appreciate their talent immensely. I have never equated them with Milli Vanilli, but some of their music is more than a little derivative. It's the "without attribution" part that I could have emphasized. On the whole, listeners looking into rock's roots was a tremendous boon for many blues artists.

I appreciate your point.

[LiberalLovinLug]

15. thanks. I wasn't trying to start an argument

I've just seen so much in YouTube comments about how none of their music is legit etc...Makes me mad. Because in the end, they created their own sound, their own distinct voice in the history of not only rock n roll, but music history. Just as the early blues musicians they borrowed from are also a part of.


I agree that they did not give the attribution on their albums and they should have. A lot of other obscure rock n roll pioneers took their influences from, and even reworked, old blues songs unattributed too. They just didn't have the stature of LZ. Sadly too, I think it was the time they lived in, when it wasn't regarded as important to list attributions of older more unknown black blues artists like that. Also, I don't think they purposely set out to rip off older blues musicians songs. They adored that music. It was a big influence and they were creative and they just melded it into their sound without really thinking about the consequences or ethics of it. They were young, and a bit rash and arrogant I'm sure.

Interesting quote here from a Rolling Stone article:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/led-zeppelins-10-boldest-rip-offs-223419/

Plenty of other bands in the 1960s played fast and loose with their songwriting credits, figuring they wouldn’t get caught: The Rolling Stones recorded “Love in Vain” but didn’t credit Robert Johnson as the song’s author. The Beatles swiped elements from musicians ranging from Chuck Berry to Pee Wee Crayton, but were usually careful to disguise the source. Led Zeppelin, however, took the practice further than most of their peers.

Part of the band’s collective genius was that they could quote a favorite old song, and then adrenalize it and turn it into something new. John Bonham, for example, transformed the drum beat from Little Richard’s “Keep a Knockin'” into the motor behind “Rock & Roll.” For better and worse, beats aren’t protected by copyright, while melodies and lyrics are – which is why so many songwriters have sued the band. As with most aspects of their career, Led Zeppelin seemed to operate on the principle that it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

There are exceptions: Willie Dixon was appropriately credited as the author of “You Shook Me” and “I Can’t Quit You Baby” on the band’s debut album; when they covered Memphis Minnie’s 1929 track “When the Levee Breaks” on their fourth album, the members of Led Zeppelin granted themselves songwriting credits, but at least they also included Memphis Minnie.

Led Zeppelin took “some liberties, I must say,” Page admitted. “As far as my end of it goes, I always tried to bring something fresh to anything that I used,” he claimed. He put the blame on Plant: “Robert was supposed to change the lyrics, and he didn’t always do that, which is what brought on most of the grief.”

When I was googling to find more info I found this good The Conversation article on the topic.

http://theconversation.com/plagiarists-or-innovators-the-led-zeppelin-paradox-endures-102368

cheers

[Harker]

16. Thanks for the thoughtful post.

The linked article was interesting reading, too.

Plenty to ponder... cheers!

[Tursiops]

10. "Summer Rain" by Johnny Rivers nt

[Midnight Writer]

13. It's not as if Taurus sales were hurt by Stairway. I reckon some licks were knicked, but the songs

are very different.

I don't see the damage here. If not for Stairway, very few people would have heard of Taurus. If anything, Taurus sales were enhanced by Stairway.

By the way, Spirit was a great band, Randy California was a great guitarist, and if you haven't checked them out, you should. Kapt. Kopter deserves special mention.