Did Led Zeppelin steal ‘Stairway to Heaven’ opening? Court battle looms

A Los Angeles federal judge ruled Monday that lawyers will have no more than 10 hours per side to present their evidence in next month’s copyright-infringement case involving Led Zeppelin’s iconic rock anthem “Stairway to Heaven.”

The lawsuit alleges that the guitar arpeggio opening of “Stairway,” released 45 years ago, was lifted from the 1968 instrumental “Taurus” by the long-defunct Los Angeles band Spirit.

The complaint was lodged on behalf of the estate of Spirit’s guitarist- songwriter Randy California, who drowned in 1997 off the coast of Hawaii. Defendants include Led Zeppelin band members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, and various music companies.

U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner indicated that the trial — set for May 10 — would last less than a week.

Led Zeppelin’s lawyers said in court papers that Page and Plant would probably not attend the trial. Video depositions, filmed in the United Kingdom, will be shown to the jury instead.

Klausner previously determined that there was enough evidence for a jury to weigh whether there was “substantial similarity” in the songs.

In February, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, along with Warner Music Group Corp., asked Klausner to throw out the lawsuit, but he concluded that trial was required.

The estate’s attorney, Francis Malofiy, previously told City News Service:”Led Zeppelin opened for Spirit when they first came over here. There’s no doubt Jimmy Page appreciated Spirit on an emotional and musical level. And, of course, Led Zeppelin has a unique history of lifting their songs from other sources.”

In the 1970s, the British rock band made settlement agreements and granted writing co-credits to other artists for several songs originally credited to Page, including “Whole Lotta Love,” “The Lemon Song” and “Dazed and Confused.”

“Attribution is the most important thing,” Malofiy said. “What we want is for credit to be given where it’s due. I’m a fan of Led Zeppelin, but in this situation, we want credit for Randy.”

In the liner notes to a 1996 reissue of Spirit’s first album, California stated that “people always ask me why ‘Stairway to Heaven’ sounds exactly like ‘Taurus,’ which was released two years earlier. … They opened up for us on their first American tour.”

— Wire reports