The losing side in the recent Led Zeppelin copyright infringement trial in Los Angeles signaled Monday an appeal will be filed in the closely watched case.
A notice was filed in Los Angeles federal court on behalf of Michael Skidmore, indicating that an appeal of the June 23 verdict, and any related rulings, would be brought before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
A federal jury last month rejected a lawsuit alleging that members of Led Zeppelin stole the opening guitar motif of the band’s signature song “Stairway to Heaven” from an obscure tune by the defunct Los Angeles group Spirit.
Skidmore is the trustee of the estate of the late Spirit songwriter/guitarist Randy Wolfe, known as Randy California. The suit alleges that the intro to “Stairway” was lifted from Spirit’s 1968 instrumental “Taurus,” penned by Wolfe.
The eight-person jury found there was not enough evidence to support Skidmore’s claims, ending the six-day legal battle that included a courtroom reunion, of sorts, of Led Zeppelin surviving members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones.
Earlier this month, Led Zeppelin’s lawyers filed papers asking the judge to award more than a half-million dollars in attorneys’ fees for successfully defending the band against the plagiarism allegations.
–City News Service