Judge Rules Against Led Zeppelin, Says Pennsylvania a Fine Venue to Decide Whether “Stairway to Heaven” Opening Was a Spirit Rip Off

The relatives of the founding members of Spirit,
a 60s/70s psychedelic/prog-rock band, are suing Led Zeppelin,
alleging that the opening riff to “Stairway to Heaven” was lifted
from Spirit’s song “Taurus.” Led Zeppelin apparently have a history
of being inspired by music that came before them (and what musical
act hasn’t?) Mic.com provides
some background:

This is not from the first time that Led Zeppelin has gone to
court for failing to credit borrowed riffs and melodies.
Page has previously blamed Robert Plant, the band’s
singer and lyricist, for most of the earlier instances, as in this
1993 interview with Guitar World:

“I always tried to bring something fresh to
anything that I used. I always made sure to come up with some
variation. In fact, I think in most cases you would never know what
the original source could be. Maybe not in every case — but in most
cases. So most of the comparisons rest on the lyrics. And
Robert was supposed to change the lyrics, and he didn‘t
always do that — which is what brought on most of the grief. They
couldn‘t get us on the guitar parts of the music, but they
nailed us on the lyrics. We did take some liberties, I must
say.“

The lawsuit was filed in May and in a ruling last week a judge
in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed Led Zeppelin’s
challenge over the venue: the group’s lawyers argued that none of
the members of Led Zeppelin live or work in Pennsylvania nor have
any connections that would warrant holding the trial there. The
judge disagreed, buying into the argument by the plaintiffs that
because “Stairway to Heaven” is marketed in Eastern Pennsylvania,
the trial can be held there.

Here’s a comparison of the openings of “Taurus” and “Stairway to
Heaven”:

Unlike the Marvin Gaye/”Blurred Lines” dust up, I don’t hear a
similarity here. In that case, Gaye’s relatives
used a “mashup” of Robin Thicke and Pharrell’s “Blurred Lines”
and  Gaye’s”Got to Give it Up” to show a resemblance. Thicke
and Pharrell’s lawyers argue no element of “Got to Give it Up” is
copied in “Blurred Lines” even if the two sound similar. Here’s a
mash up, it’s probably not the one used in court:

And while we’re at it here’s Axis of Awesome showing just how
many songs use the same four chord progression:

Everything’s derivative!

More Reason on IP here.