[nickcarraway]

I’m not really a fan, but weren’t all songs by this band more or less copied from other sources?

[Fiji Hill]

As far as I'm concerned, Stairway to Heaven is a Neil Sedaka song from the spring of 1960. I'm not familiar with this other version.

[GeronL]

It was 1971.... What took so long?

[lee martell]

When I hear of the group Spirit, I think of the song: I’ve Got a Line On You. I think Clapton was in that band.

[raccoonradio]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoqR7ztdTCg

Written by Willie Dixon and sung by Muddy Waters in 1960 or so; Dixon sued and won
Way down inside, woman you need love...

[Sirius Lee]

Emerson Lake & Palmer’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” by Copland totally rips off Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” by Copland.

[ifinnegan]

Of course Page ripped off everything and anybody.

That’s what he did.

It’d be funny to see a settlement where Page had to give all his royalties over the past decades to someone else.

That’d be great.

[lurk]

Leaving aside the instrumental line, what does Stairway to Heaven actually mean?

[RandallFlagg]

I honestly think that Children of Dune ripped off from Deep Blue Sea was a lot closer:

Deep Blue Sea
http://youtu.be/yhWkI1TZSPQ?t=11m30s

Children of Dune
http://youtu.be/zGYiX1beDlk?t=8m15s

But then, Brian Tyler rips off even himself on occasion.

[Verbosus]

What about the George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” and the Chiffon’s “He’s So Fine”?

I believe the ruling was Harrison “subconsciously” plagiarized the song.

I’m still not sure what that means.

[RansomOttawa]

Led Zeppelin opened for Spirit for a time, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility. The chord progression and arpeggios, while not identical, are very similar.

I'd be inclined to think Spirit has a case. Zeppelin also had a reputation for copying old blues songs without credit. I'm actually more curious why it's taken them over 40 years to decide to sue.

[Tallguy]

Plagiarizing music riffs is so... analog.