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.

[P.O.E.]

How much did the lawyers reap over these decades?

[Reeses]

Garth Brooks doesn't have to share so he's the most rewarded performer of all time. Elvis was good at dressing up but had no place to go but into drugs.

[FLT-bird]

Greatest Band in Rock History.

[Spktyr]

I think you mean Kashmir:

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

Which is okay in the original, but got a LOT better in the short instrumental version used in the Top Gear television series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNaRCgF2S_8

Here’s the first part that wasn’t used in the series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30_9fnQOK20

[Spktyr]

This describes more than half the bands and artists in the various musical halls of fame. Same thing with authors.

Remember, there’s only three real story lines in literature. “Boy Meets Girl,” “The Little Tailor” and “A Man Learns A Lesson.” Add in the inverse situations - failed romance/people don’t fall in love, man doesn’t learn a lesson, etc - and you have all the stories there are, and people write endless variations on them.

[McCarthysGhost]

If the taurus song had the little flourish at the end of the riff I would say Zeppelin stole it. Stairway sounds different. It’s about musical ideas. Much music can sound similar.

[Bullish]

I hear the ripped off riff but I can sure tell why Spirit’s version didn’t do much for them. On the other hand, Zep took that little riff and made an intro to a killer rock anthem out of it.

Which one do you all think will live in history?

[SIDENET]

“Denied!”

[a fool in paradise]

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

Rock n Roll uses the banging drum beat of Little Richard’s Keep A Knockin’

Little Richard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcJrExewkYA

Led Zep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lncr2g9XJHU

[Larry Lucido]

Glad that’s settled. Now if they can sort out which is better, Desperado or Witchay Woman.

[Larry Lucido]

[Lurker]

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

Mud Shark.

L

[raccoonradio]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OUP39dg_KVQ

Willie Dixon sued and won I believe
1960 or so ..You Need Love
And later Zep—Whole Lotta Love

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OUP39dg_KVQ

[Adder]

Worst song they ever did.

Doesn’t hold a candle to Over the Hills and Far Away.

Its funny how sounds affect people: some folks think its great, others can’t stand it.

[Fresh Wind]

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.

I'm sure they would give the Biden campaign the rights to use "Dazed and Confused" free of charge at any of their rallies.

[newfreep]

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Black Dog

Better than the LZ version!!!

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

[I-ambush]

I agree. The supposedly nicked guitar line in “Taurus” uses the same rhythm as Stairway, but the chords aren’t the same; Taurus sounds like random noodling. Furthermore, I don’t think you can fairly say that Zeppelin “stole” Whole Lotta Love from Muddy Waters. While the lyrics, standard blues lines, were not changed by Plant enough to avoid charges of copyright infringement, everything else about the song is all Zep, from Page’s awesome opening riff on.

[liberalh8ter]

Rick Beato covered this quite nicely in his video explaining line cliches, citing many examples including Duke Ellington’s 1935, “In a Sentimental Mood”.

[jdsteel]

“ Rock n Roll uses the banging drum beat of Little Richard’s Keep A Knockin’”

Similar, but the Zep drummer (John Bonham) Played it on the 8th note upbeat, which is an entirely different beast to play. If you are willing to take a little time to understand what an incredible drummer he was watch this:

https://youtu.be/UvOm2oZRQIk

[Disambiguator]

Rush had a situation regarding their song “La Villa Strangiato,” which contained a riff from the song “Powerhouse” which was used in WB cartoons. They ended up remunerating the original composer just because it was the right thing to do.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UNilsLf6eW4