Led Zeppelin defend ‘Stairway to Heaven’ on basis of chord progression; Judge Klausner undeterred

When Led Zeppelin played “Stairway to Heaven” for the first time, the world came to love the song more than any song during that time. Little did the band members know that decades later, in 2014, the band would be sued over copyright issues due to significant similarities with another track called “Taurus” by Spirit.

Specifically, it is Led Zeppelin’s lead vocalist Robert Plant and lead guitarist Jimmy Page who are facing trial. They are to face the jury trial after accusations that they stole the intro part of “Stairway to Heaven” from Spirit’s instrumental song. The two legends are going to appear in a Los Angeles court on May 10.

US District Judge Gary Klausner ruled that their 1971 track had “substantial” similarities with Spirit’s 1967 track “Taurus.” Led Zeppelin have been embroiled in copyright cases before. They pay portions of their royalties for songs such as “Boogie with Stu” and “Whole Lotta Love.” In fact, they have also been ordered to add credits to several tracks, writes Independent.

The lawsuit against Led Zeppelin was filed by a trustee for Spirit’s composer and guitarist Randy Wolfe. His name is Michael Skidmore. He claimed that Led Zeppelin was inspired to write “Stairway to Heaven” after touring with Spirit in 1968 and 1969. He added that Wolfe was unhappy about the similarities between the two tracks. Unfortunately, he drowned and died trying to save his son in 1997.

“The guys made millions of bucks on it and never said ‘Thank You,’ never said, ‘Can we pay you some money for it?’ It’s a sore point with me. Maybe someday their conscience will make them do something about it,” Wolfe had told Listener magazine back in 1997.

Plant and Page are now facing trial, and in their defence, they have said that the chord progressions in “Stairway to Heaven” are general in nature and widely known. Hence, they claimed that cannot be copyrighted. They also said that Wolfe had no claim to the general chords as he was a songwriter for hire.

However, Klausner said that though the descending chromatic four-chord progression is common in the music industry, the similarities between the two songs transcend the 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 added.

The world knew that Plant and Page wrote the song “Stairway to Heaven” in a remote cottage in Wales, writes BBC News.