The "Stairway To Heaven" legal fight has become an even more formidable climb for the 9th Circuit, as Led Zeppelin's legal team has filed a cross-appeal asking it to consider whose glittering gold should be used to pay for the litigation, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Last summer, a jury found guitarist Jimmy Page did not copy the song's iconic riff from a 1968 instrumental piece by Spirit called "Taurus”.

Michael Skidmore, the trustee who sued the band on behalf of late Spirit songwriter Randy Wolfe's estate, wasn't content to accept the loss. His attorney Francis Malofiy filed a 90-page appeal brief in March, arguing that the jury did not believe the songs were substantially similar because it wasn't allowed to hear the "Taurus" sound recording. At the time Wolfe created the composition, sheet music was protected by federal copyright law but sound recordings weren't.

The jury did find, however, that Page had access to the song - and that's the cornerstone of Malofiy's second major argument on appeal. He says the jury wasn't adequately informed about the inverse ratio rule, which essentially lowers the bar for substantial similarity when a high degree of access has been proven.

Led Zeppelin attorney Peter Anderson filed an even more voluminous reply on Friday, arguing that "substantial evidence supports the jury's verdict and Skidmore's appeal has absolutely no merit."

Specifically, Anderson says the argument about jury instructions regarding the inverse ratio rule is moot because Skidmore "did not prove the high degree of access required to trigger that rule" and "no amount of access will establish copyright infringement if, as the jury found here, there is no substantial similarity in protectable expression."

As to the sound recording issue, Anderson argues, "Skidmore misreads statutes and cases to advocate against black-letter copyright law that the copyright registered in a work protects only the copyrighted work and that federal copyright does not extend to sound recordings created prior to February 15, 1972."

In addition to replying to Skidmore's appellate arguments, Anderson is cross-appealing. He's asking the 9th Circuit to affirm the judgment, but reverse U.S. District Court judge R. Gary Klausner's order regarding fees. Anderson also represents publisher Warner/Chappell Music, which bore nearly all of the legal costs and fees for the defense — and he wants the appellate court to make Wolfe's estate pick up the tab.

Read the full story at hollywoodreporter.com.