Posted on 08/16/2019 9:20:59 PM PDT by DoodleBob
According to NBC News, the Justice Department filed a friend of court brief late Thursday supporting LED ZEPPELIN in the "Stairway To Heaven" copyright lawsuit.
Last September, a federal appeals court decided unanimously to overturn a jury's decision that LED ZEPPELIN's 1971 classic was not a rip-off of SPIRIT's song.
Michael Skidmore, the trustee of "Taurus" songwriter Randy "California" Wolfe's estate, had brought the claims more than four decades after "Stairway To Heaven" appeared on LED ZEPPELIN's untitled album, better known as "Led Zeppelin IV".
In its brief filed Thursday, the Justice Department said the trial judge got it right when he ruled that the only work subject to copyright protection was the sheet music, because the song was written before Congress changed the law in 1972, which gave protection to sound recordings.
In June 2016, a Los Angeles jury deliberated for about five hours before deciding unanimously in favor of LED ZEPPELIN.
(Excerpt) Read more at blabbermouth.net ...
That’s what I always say: “Zeppelin was the greatest cover band of all time.”
But their diehard fans get very angry when they hear that. lol
Listen to Taurus for yourself, starting at 0:45. Zeppelin opened for Spirit and must have heard this song at some point.
...
IIRC, the melody is traditional. Nobody has a copyright on it.
Taurus is a really nice song.
LOL :) Many years ago I was listening to an LP of Bach's Inventions (played on Clavichord) and one of the tracks was going on and on, four part counterpoint ... when all a sudden I hear the opening riff to "Satisfaction" !!! /laugh
So, of course my joke from then on was that "Bach invented the Rolling Stones" :)
The same chord progression was used any nuber of times decades before Taurus. Spirit stole it themselves.
Lol! The artist is long dead. It’s the moochers who control the estate seeking a payday. Eff em.
Besides, "Stairway" is much much more than just that opening arpeggiated chord progression. OK, yes, it starts with that progression, but then dynamically builds up to the high flying coda at the finale.
"Taurus" doesn't even come close to the entire composition nor performance that is "Stairway".
Just MHO ;)
Exactly. Descending bassline, just off the top of my head; "Something", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "White Room", "The Rain Song", probably a million others during that era, as well as most likely before that era as well ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFlKx3YPL5I
LOL ... I already know how to play "Hotel California" (including the brilliant solo at the coda, one of Joe Walsh's finest), but now I know how to play Tull's "We Used To Know" as well .... Thank Ya, DFW :)
Screw that. Maybe 10 seconds of an 8 minute song appear in this song.
led Zeppelin has done FAR worse in the theft department than this :)
But whatever they stole, they sounded a thousand time better than the original so who cares anyway?
BTW..it HAS been a long time since I rock and rolled.
i think I’d get a hernia at this point :)
I smiled when I watched an interview with Robert plant and he was putting down Greta Van Fleet for copying their sound.
Im quite surprised Freebird isnt listed.
Nor was W. Shakespeare.
>> the only work subject to copyright protection was the sheet music, because the song was written before Congress changed the law in 1972, which gave protection to sound recordings.
Some have argued that such a stance makes many famous guitar solos “public domain” works.
Play the classic riff in your “new” song and have a recognizable hit.
Jimi Hendrix wasn’t a shabby cover band artist and he even covered contemporary songs including “junk” like Wild Thing and Gloria.
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