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Its been 45 years since the greatest song of all time, “Stairway to Heaven” has been release, now Led Zeppelin’s Page and Plant Face Copyright Trial Over Stairway to Heaven!!!
It just goes to show you that a copyright lawsuit can happen years later, like this one with Led Zeppelin. Find out more on the flip…
CelebNMusic247.com has just learned that Led Zeppelin founders Robert Plant and Jimmy Page MUST face trial in a copyright row over the song “Stairway to Heaven”, an US court has ruled!
According to a Los Angeles district judge “Stairway to Heaven” had enough similarities to an instrumental by the band Spirit to let a jury decide.
Zeppelin founders will have to appear in court for a song that guitarist Jimmy Page, 72, and lead singer Robert Plant, 68, reputed to have written “Stairway to Heaven” in a remote cottage in Wales.
Mr Skidmore strongly disagrees and has suggested the song came about after the band heard Spirit performed the instrumental “Taurus” while the bands toured together in 1968 and 1969.
It happens, bands steal all the time and sometimes they don’t realize it. Skidmore is probably telling the truth, since it is possible that Page and Plant heard the instrumental “Taurus” so many times before since they toured together for a year. It was in their subconscious.
What seemed to be a natural thought process of creation, may indeed have been from the band Spirit, but that will be argued in a court of law on May 10, 2016.
Here is another inclination that Stairway, was possibly taken from the instrumental “Taurus”:
Stairway to Heaven, released in 1971, and is widely seen as one of the greatest rock compositions of all time. But if you noticed the timeline. The you can blatantly see that Stairway to Heaven was possibly inspired by Spirit’s instrumental “Taurus” which was performed in 1968 and 1969, two years before Page and Plant wrote it.
The copyright infringement action has been brought by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe, who played on the same bill as Led Zeppelin in the 1960s, and claims he should be given a writing credit on the track.
US district judge Gary Klausner said a jury could find “substantial” similarity between the first two minutes of Stairway and Taurus.
Judge Klausner ruled:
“While it is true that a descending chromatic four-chord progression is a common convention that abounds in the music industry, the similarities here transcend this core structure.”
“What remains is a subjective assessment of the ‘concept and feel’ of two works… a task no more suitable for a judge than for a jury.”
He also said the trustee can get only 50% of any damages awarded, citing a 1967 contract Wolfe signed.
This could vindicate the late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe and Michael Skidmore, a trustee for Wolfe. Plus Wolfe’s estate could make his family very rich. We love Zeppelin, but if Wolfe’s song inspired Stairway and if the similarity are the same, then he deserves a credit on the song and royalties all the way back to 1971.
Jimmy Page net worth is said to be $170 million, and Led Zeppelin lead singer and songwriter Robert Plant also has an estimated net worth of $170 million.
Could you imagine 45 years of royalties? This is going to be a huge amount!
Photo: Reuters
