LOS ANGELES — A trial is needed to determine if Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” copies its opening notes from a song performed by the rock band Spirit, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S District Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled recently that lawyers for the trustee of late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe had shown enough evidence to support that “Stairway to Heaven” copies music from the Spirit song “Taurus.”
“Taurus” was written by Wolfe in 1966 or 1967, before Led Zeppelin released “Stairway” in 1971. Klausner wrote that while the songs have differences, lawyers for Wolfe’s trustee may be able to prove they are substantially similar.
Led Zeppelin and Spirit played at concerts and festivals at around the same time but not on the same stage. Klausner wrote that the evidence presented so far represented a circumstantial case that the members of Led Zeppelin may have heard “Taurus” performed before “Stairway” was penned.
After-hours phone and email messages sent to Helene M. Freeman, Led Zeppelin’s attorney, were not immediately returned. Experts hired by the band contend both “Stairway to Heaven” and “Taurus” use notes that have been used in music for centuries.
Francis Alexander Malofiy, attorney for Wolfe’s trustee Michael Skidmore, praised the recent ruling. He said while many copyright cases are an uphill battle, Klausner’s ruling brings his client one step closer to getting Wolfe credit for one of the most recognizable song intros in rock history.
Skidmore overcame statute-of-limitations hurdles to sue over “Stairway” because the song was remastered and rereleased in 2014.
A jury trial is set for May 10 in Los Angeles. Klausner’s ruling removed Zeppelin band member John Paul Jones from the case. Bandmates Robert Plant and Jimmy Page remain defendants.
A trial would be the third time in recent years that a copyright-infringement case involving a hit song has been filed. In March 2015, a jury found that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams had copied a Marvin Gaye song in their 2013 hit, “Blurred Lines” and awarded Gaye’s children $7.4 million. A judge trimmed the award, and the verdict is under appeal. Later in the year, another jury was empaneled to determine if the Jay-Z hit “Big Pimpin’ ” copied the work of an Egyptian composer, but a judge ruled in the rapper’s favor before deliberations began.
