“This sends the right message that you need to be cautious and it’s not going be a dance through the rose garden”.
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The jury’s verdict, which found substantial differences between “Stairway to Heaven” and Spirit’s instrumental track “Taurus”, followed a weeklong federal court trial in Los Angeles that had called into question the originality of the 1971 song by Led Zeppelin, one of the top-selling rock acts of all time.
Singer Robert Plant said he was sitting by the fire at Headley Grange in the spring of 1970, when Page played the intro on acoustic guitar and he offered the start of a couplet he had been working on: “There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold/and she’s buying a stairway to heaven”.
This means that Led Zeppelin had access to Taurus before Stairway to Heaven was released. Gaye’s family was awarded $7.4 million, a figure later reduced by the judge to $5.3 million.
A friend of Wolfe’s mother explained: “Nobody had any money, and they thought the statute of limitations was done”, adding, “It will be nice if Randy got the credit”.
Intellectual-property lawyers Danica Mathes and Larry Iser said the outcome in the “Stairway” trial shows that these cases aren’t easy to win. The original album version of “Taurus” wasn’t allowed as evidence because the copyright at issue pertained only to the sheet music, not to the recording. Within a half hour of doing so, the jury had made up its mind.
The case was brought forward by friend of Spirit, Michael Skidmore, and the estate of Spirit’s late guitarist Randy Wolfe, with the estate’s attorney Francis Malofiy stating he’s “disappointed and upset” with the result. At the crux of the plaintiff’s argument was that Led Zeppelin lifted certain parts of the 1968 Spirit sing “Taurus”.
Wearing sharp suits and their hair pulled back in ponytails, both musicians left court without speaking publicly.
Both claimed not to remember the Spirit song, or any influence it might have had on them.
Page testified that he liked Spirit but didn’t even know of the controversy until his son-in-law played an Internet mash-up of the songs. Plant could be heard singing off key and humming sections without lyrics and Page played chords that didn’t make the final cut.
Led Zeppelin’s defense team acknowledged the similarities between both songs but denied that it was a copy.
In a statement following the verdict Led Zeppelin said they were pleased with the results.
One of the major hurdles complicating matters for the jury was the absence from the court of the composer, Randy Wolfe, better known by the nickname of Randy California, given to him by Jimi Hendrix.
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“Spirit and Led Zeppelin were never on stage together, they never toured together”, Anderson said.
