Led Zeppelin Stairway To Heaven Plagiarism Case Heads To Jury Trial [Listen And Compare]
Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page must now face a jury trial in an alleged copyright infringement case over their seminal hit "Stairway to Heaven." U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner in LA ruled that the hit was similar enough to a 1967 instrumental "Taurus" by Spirit to warrant a jury trial.
The lawsuit was brought by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the late Randy Wolfe, who performed as Randy California for the band Spirit. Skidmore contends that Page may have been inspired to write Stairway after hearing Spirit perform the track while the bands were on tour together in 1968 and 1969.
The defendants have argued that Wolfe was a songwriter-for-hire at the time and had no copyright claim to the music, noting that the chord progression was so common that it did not warrant copyright protection.
However, the judge disagreed with this assertion, writing in his ruling that there was a substantial similarity between the two songs.
"While it is true that a descending chromatic four-chord progression is a common convention that abounds in the music industry, the similarities here transcend this core structure," Klausner wrote. "What remains is a subjective assessment of the 'concept and feel' of two works."
A trial is scheduled for May 10.
Listen to this side by side comparison. What do you think?
via Celebrity Access
im a guitarist and they’re similar but def not the same in big ways. zep has totally diff melody and descending part common and only 2 bars are similar. put it to bed, its not a ripp off even if it was an inspiration.
As precedence, Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” is far more similar to Satriani’s “If I Could Fly”, yet that infringement case was dismissed and Coldplay did not have to admit any wrong doing.
Sam Smith was hit for his Tom Petty song…and the recent with Robin Thicke and Marvin Gaye… and George Harrison and the Chiffons..to name some that did not turn out well in courts…. there is precedence for this…
No plagiarism. Such a common chord progression. The song itself and melody are completely different.
Not close enough. Sounds more like some greedy lawyer who has never even touched an electric guitar is trying to make money off the backs of musicians. These two riffs are only vaguely similar.
I don’t understand how lawyers and judges can’t comprehend how copyright law works. Read the damn doctrine.
You CANT sue is a song SOUNDS the same. it has to BE the same. Stolen. Ripped. If that were the case every artist of similar genres would be suing each other. Let me tell you, most metal bands sound extremely similar. Should they all be suing each other?