Led Zeppelin Win Appeal In “Stairway To Heaven” Case
Led Zeppelin have won the appeal in their “Stairway To Heaven” copyright case.
The case has been bouncing around the US courts since 2014. They originally won the trial, but a new trial was opened up in 2018. Last year, the Trump administration weighed in with support for Led Zeppelin.
As Reuters reports, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in a 9-2 decision that Robert Plant and Jimmy Page did not infringe on “Taurus,” a song by guitarist Randy Wolfe of Spirit. Wolfe died in 1997, but the case was brought up by a trustee for his estate.
Spirit and Led Zeppelin had toured together previously, and at issue was the chord progressions of the songs. A jury in the 2016 trial found that even though Plant and Page did have access to “Taurus,” “Stairway”‘s opening riff was not demonstrably similar to the song.
Plant and Page have not yet commented publicly about the decision.