Posted on 05/07/2025 7:40:24 AM PDT by nickcarraway
It claims that The Yardbird’s version of the song did not give credit to singer-songwriter Jake Holmes
Jimmy Page has been hit with another lawsuit regarding the songwriting credits to ‘Dazed And Confused’.
The suit against the guitarist and songwriter has once again been put forward by musician Jake Holmes, who is said to have written the original track that inspired the famous Led Zeppelin release.
Holmes wrote and recorded ‘Dazed And Confused’ back in 1967, and alleges that the guitarist heard the song in August of that year when he opened for Page’s other band, The Yardbirds.
The Yardbirds went on to share their own version of the song shortly afterwards and played it regularly at their shows. Although an official studio version was never made, they did share live recordings of their version of ‘Dazed And Confused’ in 1967 and 1968.
Later, Page would share another version of the song with Led Zeppelin. This sounded very similar to the original version by Holmes, although it contained new lyrics and instrumental melodies written by Page. It remains one of Led Zeppelin’s most popular releases.
For years now, there has been commotion about the songwriting credits in Led Zeppelin’s version. In 2010 Holmes filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the guitarist, and the settlement (decided outside of court) led to the songwriting credit on the Led Zeppelin version being changed to “inspired by Jake Holmes”.
It was unclear whether or not the agreement also applied to recordings shared by The Yardbirds, and now that several archival releases from the band have been shared, the lawsuit from Holmes has been revived once more.
As per the new filing (via Rolling Stone), Holmes claims that he has not been given credit nor royalties for the early versions of ‘Dazed And Confused’ performed by The Yardbirds. The suit references the newly shared film Becoming Led Zeppelin, which has the Led Zeppelin version credited as “inspired by Jake Holmes” but the Yardbirds version as only “written by Jimmy Page”. It also names Sony Pictures and music publisher Warner Chappell as defendants.
“The Yardbirds’ performance of ‘Dazed and Confused’ in the film is a performance of the Holmes Composition,” reads the filing (via RS). “Defendants have thus committed multiple acts of willful infringement by continuing to use the Holmes Composition without authorization and in the face of both specific knowledge of Plaintiff’s rights and Plaintiff’s cease and desist demand.”
This is an ongoing story. Jimmy Page’s legal team have not yet shared a public statement about the revived lawsuit from Holmes, nor responded to requests from RS. NME has reached out to Sony Pictures and Warner Chappell for comment.
From my understanding Page settled the initial suit with Jake Holmes 15 years ago and the song credited with “inspired by Jake Holems” Dazed and Confused on all the albums/compilations- but it did not show “inspired by” in the recent hit moving “Becoming Led Zeppelin” when they showed the song being played live.
BTW- the movie is incredible
Did the guy blow through his settlement money ?
New lyrics, new melody.
What’s the problem?
Can you copyright a chord progression?
Can you copyright a drum beat?
Can you copyright a set of instruments that play a song?
Seems like a money grab, imo.
Take Uptown Girl by Billy Joel.
Definitely has a Four Seasons vibe.
Did Billy Joel get sued for that?
Not that I’m aware of.
Inspiration isn’t the same thing as infringement, or is it?
there are some cool people in the industry, but its rare. My next door neighbor was OK although a liberal, I stopped seeing him take the trash out and his wife said he just died and said he was a former studio musician for this famous group and that famous group, I asked why I never heard music coming from the house, she said he came to hate the other musicians and the entire industry after a lifetime of dealing with getting ripped off so bad he got sick of music , even hated to hear it. He died with no social security and broke , ended up working in a local coal mine when he got older but then got too old for that
Greg Ham of “Men At Work” could answer your questions but he is unavailable.
Oh puhleeze! LIsten to the problem! Jimmy was a thief!
outube.com/watch?v=pTsvs-pAGDc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w772GXG5LnE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_SturUfdOI
First link didn’t come through.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTsvs-pAGDc
Did Queen sue Vanilla Ice for Ice, Ice Baby?
It sounds like it has nothing to do with the settlement. It has to do with the recent film not complying with the settlement.
And The Eagles ripped off Hotel California from Jethro Tull.
Zep’s was not inspired by. It was outright theft!
Totally different. Jake Holmes wrote DaC, and LZ really ripped it off.
BTW… Holmes went on to greatness, too, just in a different way. He was the voice and lyrics behind some of the greatest jingles of all time from “aren’t you hungry for Burger King, now?” To “help yourself to Stouffer’s Pizza” to “the best a man can get”, to charmin, to many many others
Lol. Musicians all steal from each other.
Jake Holmes on YouTube -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTsvs-pAGDc
The Yardbirds version is closer to yours... but already substantially changed in the direction Zep would take it.
Yardbirds on YouTube -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_SturUfdOI
And The Eagles ripped off Hotel California from Jethro Tull.
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Yes they did. I think Ian Anderson didn’t sue, said he was flattered, if my memory serves me well.
Forget it, Jake, your song is nothing like the Led Zeppelin song.
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If it’s nothing like it, why did they settle? They sure had more resources to fight than Holmes. And you’re correct, the Yardbirds theft was closer to the OG.
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