Led Zeppelin plagiarism case: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant in court as band goes on trial for 'Stairway to Heaven' in Los Angeles

[luisam]

Led Zeppelin plagiarism case: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant in court as band goes on trial for 'Stairway to Heaven' in Los Angeles

 

 Led Zeppelin has been accused of plagiarism 

• Robert Tait, Los Angeles

15 June 2016 • 1:09am

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, two of Led Zeppelin’s founder members, arrived in court in Los Angeles on Tuesday to defend themselves against accusations that Stairway to Heaven, the band’s most famous song, was plagiarised.

The pair appeared at the opening of a trial in a federal court case prompted by allegations that the song was a copy of Taurus, composed by the late Randy Wolfe and recorded by his band Spirit.

A trustee for Wolfe - who died in 1997 and was also known as Randy California - claims the musician deserves a partial song-writing credit on Stairway To Heaven, the opening cords of which is alleged to be based on his composition.

Michael Skidmore, the trustee, is also claiming unspecified damages.

"No one owns common musical elements," defence lawyer Peter Anderson said in opening arguments for the copyright infringement trial in Los Angeles federal court.

Page, 72, and 67-year-old Plant - who cancelled a scheduled 19 June concert at London’s South Bank Centre to appear at the trial - cut very different figures from their fabled rock star images as they arrived in courtroom 850 of the Edward R Royal building in downtown Los Angeles.

Both men looked sombre in dark three-piece suits and had their trade-mark long hair tied back in pony tails.

They deny that Stairway To Heaven, which appeared on the 1971 Led Zeppelin IV album, was copied from Taurus, an instrumental song Wolfe composed when he was just 16.

They acknowledge opening for Spirit on a 1969 tour but insist they had very little interaction with the band.

Francis Alexander Malofiy, the lawyer representing Skidmore, told a jury in opening arguments the case centres on an infringement by Led Zeppelin of copyright law, which protects artistic creation.

"It gives credit to creation but it does not give credit to copying," Malofiy said.

Anderson said his side will present evidence showing neither Skidmore nor Wolfe's trust own the copyright to "Taurus."

Testimony in the case began with Janet Wolfe, sister of Randy Wolfe, who said her brother had written "Taurus" for his wife, Robin.

When asked if she and her brother had ever discussed "Stairway to Heaven," Janet Wolfe said yes.

"It was something that upset him for many, many years," she said.

 

SOURCE

 

PD: you can listen at http://www.my-free-mp3.com/mp3/TAURUS+SPIRIT   the mp3 version of Taurus by Spirit and an actual comparison of both so you might decide if it's realy does or not sound as plagiarism

[Chatman]

I hope Jimmy Page and Robert Plant will win. There is no doubt the two songs are different.

[Carver]

Yes I have heard about this accusation years ago but I never thought it would actually go to court.

[luisam]

10 hours ago, Chatman said:

I hope Jimmy Page and Robert Plant will win. There is no doubt the two songs are different.

 

I checked for curiousity the case of Marvin Gaye's estate filing Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for plagiarising their hit Blurred Lines from Marvin Gaye's 1977 song Got to Give It Up. They lost the case,  the jury decided unanimously, and were condemned to pay $7.4 million.Source   I listened both songs and for me they are quite different, probably more different then those starting accords of Stairway to Heaven and Taurus, so the accusation possibly has a case.

[pc71520]

Let's keep the good part

[Dce3480]

[flitox]

since i'm not a musician, i' might not be the best person to judge this but there is enough similarities to consider it can be based on the taurus song.

but going to court for that 45 years later..... no! thats at least 40 years too late

[Pequi]

I can say the first 20 seconds or so of "Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven" is very similar, but NOT a copy of 45-55 seconds out of "Spirit -Taurus".

My guess is **"Randy California" will lose this one.

 

** OMG, is that a name or a geo-social description ?

;)

 

 

[flitox]

not a copy but a plagiarism. all they did is steal the main idea and change a note or two

[TheMountain]

Beating a Dead Horse...