Led Zeppelin lawyers ask judge to toss ‘Stairway’ case
Los Angeles (AP) – Led Zeppelin’s lawyers asked a judge to throw out a case accusing the band’s songwriters of ripping off a riff for “Stairway to Heaven.”
The estate of Randy Wolfe, founder of the band Spirit, failed to prove it owned the copyright to his 1968 song “Taurus” or that it was substantially similar to “Stairway,” attorney Peter Anderson said.
“Plaintiff rested and failed to carry his burden of proof on multiple issues,” Anderson wrote in a motion to dismiss Monday, June 20.
Wolfe’s estate claims that guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant incorporated a unique musical phrase from “Taurus” in the introduction to their 1971 rock epic.
Anderson said attorney Francis Malofiy had failed to show that members of Led Zeppelin were familiar with the song and experts had not presented a convincing case that the tunes were similar enough to amount to copyright infringement.
Musical experts for the Wolfe estate said there were many similarities between the obscure instrumental “Taurus” and “Stairway,” but a defense expert testified Friday that the main similarity was a common descending chord sequence used as a musical building block for 300 years.
Anderson also said the plaintiff failed to show actual damages from any infringement or present evidence of revenues from “Stairway.”
An economist testified that Led Zeppelin works that include “Stairway” earned nearly $60 million in revenues in the past five years, but that included other works, as well, and didn’t include manufacturing costs or other expenses that could be deducted.
Here are some things to know about the case:
Riff Rift
The estate of the late Randy Wolfe claims a passage from his instrumental “Taurus,” was stolen by Led Zeppelin and incorporated in the opening to “Stairway,” an instantly recognizable song to generations of music fans.
A riff in the 1968 “Taurus” sounds like the intro to the 1971 rock anthem. Because the copyright only applies to the sheet music filed in the Library of Congress, jurors won’t hear the “Taurus” recording, only expert renditions of the sheet music.
A defense expert said the shared similarity is a descending A-minor chord progression, but that’s been a musical building block for more than 300 years.
Experts for Wolfe’s estate said other similarities include notes of the same duration, use of arpeggios and similar pairs of notes.
Wolfe’s Spirit
Wolfe, a guitar prodigy, played as a 15-year-old in Jimi Hendrix’s rock group Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. Two band members were named Randy, so Hendrix dubbed him Randy California, a name he used the rest of his life.
Wolfe founded Spirit in Los Angeles in 1967 and the band played its psychedelic jazz-infused rock at “Love-Ins” during the “Summer of Love” and eventually played around the world for loyal fans.
Wolfe wrote “Taurus” for a girlfriend born under that sign of the zodiac.
A surviving band member remembered playing the song at a December 1968 Denver show, where Led Zeppelin made its U.S. debut as the opening act.
Wolfe drowned in 1997 saving his son in Hawaii.
Jimmy Page’s gift
Page, 72, a masterful guitarist who founded Led Zeppelin when The Yardbirds broke up in 1968, demonstrated a skill for deflecting questions and injecting humor in his testimony.
He said he’d never heard “Taurus” until a son-in-law showed him online comparisons to “Stairway.”
“I don’t do the internet,” Page quipped.
He said the track was “totally alien” to him. However, he later found the album among his collection of 4,329 records and 5,882 CDs, a count he said was “as of yesterday.”
Asked if he was a gifted guitarist, Page paused for a long moment and said, “Well, yeah.” The courtroom erupted with laughter.
Page carried a guitar into court, but left without playing a note – unless you count a spontaneous air guitar solo during a break with singer Robert Plant.
Flexible statute for imitations
While it seems late to bring a case against a 45-year-old song, copyright lawsuits can be filed if rights were allegedly violated in the past three years.
And damages can only extend back three years and into the future.
The lawsuit was filed in 2014, so damages could be awarded from 2011 onward.
A financial expert for the estate said Led Zeppelin works that include “Stairway” raked in nearly $60 million in the past five years.
The defense, which denies any plagiarism, is trying to show that even if the copyright was infringed, it was only a short portion of an epic song famous for its lyrics and crescendo-building momentum.
Rip-off remix
Led Zeppelin has been down this track before – several times.
The band has reached at least six settlements over songwriting credits for some of their best-known works, including “Whole Lotta Love,” ‘’The Lemon Song,” and “Dazed and Confused,” according to the lawsuit.
The judge, however, barred the jury from hearing evidence of those settlements after the defense argued it was irrelevant and would tar Page and Plant “as serial copiers.”
Bass player and keyboardist John Paul Jones, who testified briefly on Friday, has been dismissed as a defendant.
