Led Zeppelin emerges victorious in ‘Stairway to Heaven’ plagiarism case

New York Post ^ | October 5, 2020

[nickcarraway]

British rock band Led Zeppelin on Monday effectively won a long-running legal battle over claims it stole the opening guitar riff from its signature 1971 song “Stairway to Heaven.”

The band, one of the best-selling rock acts of all time, was handed victory after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case, meaning that a March 2020 decision by a U.S. appeals court in Led Zeppelin’s favor will stand.

Lead singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page had been accused in the six-year-long case of lifting the riff — one of the best-known openings in rock music — from a song called “Taurus”, written by the late Randy Wolfe of the U.S. band Spirit.

[nickcarraway]

This group has stolen pretty much every song they ever played, and got away with it.

[SpaceBar]

[nickcarraway]

Led Zeppelin sued for alleged plagiarism of Dazed and Confused (Jake Holmes claims authorship)

[ifinnegan]

“This group has stolen pretty much every song they ever played, and got away with it.”

Yep.

[nickcarraway]

And the hilarious thing is, from my understanding, they charge the highest royalty rate of any musician, making it prohibitive to only those who can seriously shell out.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Spirit - Taurus

[dp0622]

And every song they stole they made a thousand times better.

No one was forced to buy their albums or see them.

many went to court and were settled.

musicasns that hadn’t seen a nickel in forever actually made a few bucks suing Zep

I’ve heard the alleged riff that they say he stole for Stairway

it’s a ####ing joke.

If you haven’t listened to it, you shouldn’t comment on it yet.

So Stairway, Rock n Roll, Black Dog and so many more were just theirs.

And they were great

[nickcarraway]

I never bought one of their albums. Only someone who was deafened by listening to One in a Million on repeat would think they were good. And that singer sounds like Jim Neighbors being fed through a strangling-cats effects processor.

I did hear Taurus by Spirit. Just another talented American ripped of by a British hack.

And worst of all, they displayed extreme cruelty towards fish.

[Olog-hai]

Meh. The more I hear Zeppelin, the more they sound overrated next to more talented contemporaries. Individually they are not untalented and together they can play energetically and loud, but they needed other people to write their songs for them, it seems. And of course the radio force-fed their music to you.

I always hated the slogan that music journalists used to parrot about them, “the definitive heavy metal band” (per AllMusic’s Stephen Erlewine). At least the band themselves rejected that label.

[abigkahuna]

But Dazed and Confused was performed by the Yardbirds previous to Led Zeppelin and referenced an earlier version (maybe Jake’s) that was more dark than the Zep version....oh well. whatever.

[nickcarraway]

My understanding is Jake Holmes was opening for the Yardbirds, and that's when Page stole it, then later brought it to his new band.

That seems to be a common theme for Page, since he stol Spirit's Taurus, when LZ opened for Spirit.

[BOBWADE]

Spirit ripped it off from a much older tune.

[RockyTx]

everyone steals in the music business

[Hootowl99]

Well, stolen or not Led Zeppelin was and remains pretty damn good. Dazed and Confused is awesome. I really like Led Zep when they turn up the blues.

I’ve gotten into a probably weird habit the last few months of sleeping with headphones and listening to something. Most of the time it’s music, Led Zep, Nora Jones, Dianna Krall, The Band, Joe Walsh, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell are the tops so far. If I just want to blank out, I listen to white noise as rain falling on a tent. Retired so I can indulge myself.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

I like Led Zeppelin. I listened to the video that had the two tracks and they sounded awful similar.

My understanding is that the lawyers prevented the two riffs from being played during the trial. The jurors had to just look at the notes on the page.

Anyway, Cashmere is my favorite song of theirs, and I like many others. Their induction into some Hall of Fame or other with Heart singing Stairway to Heaven and seeing their reaction brought a tear to my eye.

They were one of the best... even if they had a little help from their friends. ;-)

[fr_freak]

I’ve gotten into a probably weird habit the last few months of sleeping with headphones and listening to something.

Shoot. I've been doing that since I was a kid. I suffered from chronic insomnia from a fairly young age, and a lot of times, listening to music on headphones was the only way to fall asleep. Now when I need to sleep, I listen more to the ASMR type stuff than music.

[nickcarraway]

Cashmere

Cashmere?

[Califreak]

Oh let the wool rest softly on my skin
and shield me from the breeze

[Samurai_Jack]

“I’ve heard the alleged riff that they say he stole for Stairway”

Yeah the Spirit tune has ‘whispers’ of the melody... they hinted at it and it sounded familiar. Missing from their offering is the powerful delivery, haunting lyrics, stunning arrangement, and incendiary guitar bridge that made the song a generational anthem.

Zep made it great and I’m glad they won.

But they did produce Natures Way was pretty cool for contemporary environmentalist agit-prop.

[kingu]

As a believer in the public domain where the people are supposed to reap the benefits of a LIMITED TIME protection of intellectual and creative property, the whole case is ludicrous. Case filed 45 years after the album was released?

Inspired by Spirit’s song I could buy, but it’s not a copy.

Either way, copyrights need to return to limited time and the Mickey Mousing of copyright law to protect Disney needs to end. At this time, my great grandchildren’s children MIGHT enjoy the protections we pay for in copyright law. That’s not a lawful exchange.