Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway To Heaven' plagiarism battle comes to an end
They can finally breathe a sigh of relief
Last updated 6th Oct 2020
Led Zeppelin’s long-running ‘Stairway To Heaven’ copyright battle is finally over after the US Supreme Court declined to hear the dispute yesterday (5th October).
Lodged by journalist Michael Skidmore, the estate of late guitarist Randy Wolfe from US band Spirit sued Led Zeppelin in 2014 claiming that ‘Stairway To Heaven’ ripped off the introduction from Spirit’s 1968 track ‘Taurus’.
Led Zeppelin were cleared of plagiarism following a six-day trial in Los Angeles in June 2016; however, Randy Wolfe’s estate launched an appeal in 2018.
The original verdict was upheld by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in March of this year, and yesterday (5th October), the US Supreme Court refused to hear the case, bringing Led Zeppelin’s six-year battle to a categorical end.
Led Zeppelin 'Stairway To Heaven':
Spirit 'Taurus':
Voted the Greatest Rock Song of All Time, ‘Stairway To Heaven’ is undoubtedly one of the standout tracks from Led Zeppelin’s distinguished musical arsenal.
Randy Wolfe’s estate had originally sought a one-third split of the track’s royalties and claimed Led Zeppelin were familiar with 'Taurus' when they recorded 'Stairway To Heaven.'
Led Zeppelin disputed this and said that the chord progression was "commonplace” and dated back centuries. They also questioned why legal action hadn’t been taken previously since the track’s 1971 release and during Wolfe’s lifetime.
Jimmy Page testified in court saying he had been unaware of Spirit's song until people shared online comparisons in the past decade. He explained: "I knew I had never heard that before. It was totally alien to me."
Led Zeppelin 'Immigrant Song' single
In other Led Zeppelin news, the band celebrated the 50th anniversary of ‘Led Zeppelin III’ yesterday (5th October) by announcing a reissue of the Japanese version of the album’s only single, ‘Immigrant Song.’
Released on 15th January 2021, the 7” vinyl single is backed with the non-album track ‘Hey, Hey, What Can I Do?’ and it’s limited to 19,700 copies worldwide. It comes in a sleeve that replicates the original artwork.
The single can be pre-ordered on ledzeppelin.com from this Thursday (8th October).