LED ZEPPELIN - Judge Declines To Dismiss “Stairway To Heaven” Copyright Suit

May 7, 2015, 8 years ago

news hard rock rarities led zeppelin spirit

LED ZEPPELIN - Judge Declines To Dismiss “Stairway To Heaven” Copyright Suit

A lawsuit claiming that “Stairway To Heaven” was filched from an obscure song by the band Spirit has survived its first legal challenge. The Philadelphia judge in the copyright infringement case against Led Zeppelin ruled yesterday that the suit shouldn't be dismissed, and instead ordered it transferred to federal court in Los Angeles.

To many ears, the opening notes of “Stairway To Heaven” sound a lot like “Taurus”, an instrumental piece released on Spirit’s debut album in 1968, according to the complaint. At the end of that year and throughout 1969, Spirit and Led Zeppelin shared the bill at several concerts.

Lawyers for surviving Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones, along with Warner Music Group, had asked US District Judge Juan Sanchez either to toss out the case or to move it to California, citing the presence of several relevant witnesses and legal documents there. Spirit signed its first record contract in California, and its late guitarist's trust was formed in the state. The lawyer for the trust of Spirit guitarist Randy California, which brought the suit a year ago, said it should stay in Pennsylvania, in part because the three musicians had played the classic-rock song at the 1985 Live Aid famine-relief concert in Philadelphia.

Read more at this location.

 



Featured Video

KELEVRA - "The Distance"

KELEVRA - "The Distance"

Latest Reviews