Led Zeppelin rocks case over ‘Stairway’ – A look at copyright suits involving hit songs

This news has been read 4374 times!

LOS ANGELES, June 24, (AP): Music spoke louder than words of witnesses for a jury that decided Led Zeppelin did not lift a riff from an obscure 1960s instrumental for the intro to its classic 1971 rock anthem “Stairway to Heaven.”

The panel had heard the faded memories of rock royalty and band members who never achieved the same fame. They were inundated with expert testimony on chord progressions and record revenues.

But before reaching a verdict Thursday that could have re-written rock history, they only wanted to hear stripped-down passages of the two songs in question.

Within 15 minutes of seeing video clips of an acoustic guitarist playing the opening to “Stairway” and a similar passage from “Taurus,” written by the late Randy Wolfe, the Los Angeles federal jurors handed Led Zeppelin a major legal victory in a debate that has divided music fans for decades.

Jimmy Page, 72, and singer Robert Plant, 67, both wearing suits and with their long hair pulled back in ponytails, hugged their lawyers. They said in statement they were grateful for “putting to rest questions about the origins of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and confirming what we have known for 45 years.”

The trust for Wolfe, better known as Randy California, had sued the British band for copyright infringement over the short work he recorded with his band Spirit in 1968. Wolfe drowned in 1997 saving his son in Hawaii, and the trust brought the case after a 2014 Supreme Court ruling over the movie “Raging Bull” opened the door to collecting damages in older copyright lawsuits.

The “Taurus” recording contains a section that sounds like the instantly identifiable start of “Stairway,” but lawyers for the trust had to overcome a big hurdle in copyright law.

Because recordings prior to 1978 aren’t protected by copyright, they had to rely on expert renditions of the sheet music filed with the US Copyright Office. The sheet music is typically transcribed from audio and isn’t always faithful, said Steven L. Weinberg, a copyright lawyer and musician who watched the trial.

“It’s really not a fair rendition of what the audio recording sounds like in most cases,” he said.

Cousins

The renditions played in court seemed more like distant cousins than identical twins.

“I think if the jury had heard the actual recording of “Taurus” there’d have been no doubt about it,” said Michael Skidmore, the trustee who brought the case on behalf of the Wolfe trust. “They were limited to listening to, looking at a piece of paper.”

Page and Plant, who wrote the “Stairway” lyrics, said their creation was original. In several hours of charming and cheeky testimony, they described the craft behind one of the best-known songs in rock ‘n’ roll, all the while denying knowledge of one of the genre’s least-known tunes or the artists who performed it.

Plant cracked up the courtroom when said he didn’t remember most people he had hung out with over the years.

The trial took a musical journey through the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Spirit, a California psychedelic group that blended jazz and rock achieved some stardom and the hard-rocking British band shot off the charts.

Stops on the tour of testimony included Spirit shows during the “Summer of Love,” Led Zeppelin’s 1968 US debut as opener for Spirit and, finally, a country house in England where Page and Plant described how “Stairway” was born.

Plant recalled sitting by the fire when Page first played the intro on acoustic guitar and he offered the start of a couplet now known to millions: “There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold/and she’s buying a stairway to heaven.”

Jurors never heard a note from Page or Plant live, but they were treated to vintage recordings at the song’s conception. Plant hit sour notes and Page played chords that didn’t make the final cut as they worked on it. When the final recording was played in court, Page bobbed his head and moved to the music.

Here is a look at some other cases that have taken pop songs from the recording studio to the courtroom over plagiarism allegations.

VMG SALSOUL VS MADONNA

Delaware company VMG Salsoul owned the copyright to the song, “Ooh I Love It (Love Break),” and accused Madonna of stealing the horn segment for “Vogue.” In a 2-1 decision, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling dismissing the lawsuit. The divided court said the horn segment would be unrecognizable to the average listener of “Vogue” because it is short, occurs only a few times in the song and was modified.

OSAMA AHMED FAHMY VS JAY-Z

An Egyptian composer whose 1957 song “Khosara Khosara” is partially used in Jay Z’s “Big Pimpin’” sued the rapper, producer Timbaland and several media companies. Flute notes that the composer used are repeated throughout the Jay Z song, and nephew Osama Ahmed Fahmy claimed they exploited “Khosara Khosara” without proper permission. A federal judge dismissed the case after hearing testimony from experts on Egyptian law.

CHILDREN OF MARVIN GAYE VS ROBIN THICKE AND PHARRELL WILLIAMS

A jury found singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied R&B legend Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up” with their 2013 megahit “Blurred Lines.” Thicke and Williams were ordered to pay Gaye’s children nearly $7.4 million. A judge trimmed the award, and the verdict is under appeal.

George Harrison vs The Chiffons

Former Beatle George Harrison’s 1970 solo song “My Sweet Lord” had a melody heavy with echoes of “He’s So Fine,” the 1962 hit from The Chiffons. The copyright owner sued Harrison. A judge said that while the tunes were nearly identical, Harrison only committed “subconscious plagiarism.” Harrison would eventually pay $587,000.

HUEY LEWIS VS THE GHOSTBUSTERS

Ray Parker Jr ain’t afraid of no ghost, but he had to give in when Huey Lewis and the News came after him. Parker’s “Ghostbusters,” from the movie of the same title, was among the top 10 songs of 1984. But Lewis sued him over the song’s resemblance to “I Want a New Drug,” a song released earlier the same year. Parker settled out of court for a confidential sum.

Vanilla Ice vs Queen

Vanilla Ice’s 1990 signature tune, “Ice, Ice, Baby,” used a sample of the 1981 Queen-David Bowie collaboration “Under Pressure” without credit. Vanilla Ice would settle out of court for an undisclosed amount in one of many cases that stemmed from hip-hop’s heavy use of sampling at the time.

Fogerty vs Fogerty

In a case as bizarre as it was far-reaching, John Fogerty was accused of stealing from John Fogerty. The Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman was sued for his 1985 solo song “The Old Man Down the Road” because his former label thought it sounded too much like the 1970 Fogerty-penned “Run Through the Jungle,” a song the label owned the rights to. A jury ruled in Fogerty’s favor, but a countersuit over attorneys’ fees would reach the US Supreme Court. The fight would lead to an ongoing rift among bandmates who took opposing sides. Fogerty was still estranged from his brother and fellow CCR member Tom Fogerty over the issue when Tom died in 1990.

Tom Petty vs Sam Smith

Not all plagiarism cases are so nasty. Tom Petty won a piece of British soulster Sam Smith’s hit “Stay With Me” earlier this year, and all he had to do was ask. Petty’s publishers said that while it was clearly coincidental, the song’s melody bore a striking resemblance to Petty’s 1989 song “I Won’t Back Down.” Smith and his representatives agreed, and granted co-writing credit to Petty. The song would win Grammys for record of the year and song of the year the following month.

This news has been read 4374 times!