Led Zeppelin loses first 'Stairway to Heaven' round in plagiarism lawsuit *Wins in Appeal*

[wfgodot]

Randy didn't have a problem with it.

I believe you -- Randy California has been described as magnanimous, a gentleman; would like to see a link though to establish this statement's veracity.

 

[Xara]

I know I've read it somewhere, but I can't seem to find it again......sorry.
Guess I should have said IMO.

 

[wfgodot]

Randy California doesn’t seem to have griped about Stairway’s genesis, at least publicly, for decades. Finally, citing the gigs they played together, California told journalist Jeff McLaughlin in the winter 1997 issue of Listener magazine that Led Zeppelin had filched his song. “I’d say it was a ripoff,” California said. “And the guys made millions of bucks on it and never said ‘Thank you,’ never said, ‘Can we pay you some money for it?’ It’s kind of a sore point with me. Maybe someday their conscience will make them do something about it.”

http://www.businessweek.com/article...y-to-heaven-vs-dot-spirits-taurus-a-reckoning

Does sound like RC (eventually) had a problem with it.

 

[Xara]

This is from the accompanying booklet to "Time Circle":"When we did our first tour of Europe, in late '68 or maybe '69,", California recalls, "all those guys used to come up and sit in the front row of all our shows, and we became friends. If they wanted to use that, that's fine. I'll let them have the beginning of 'Taurus' for their song."

 

[Xara]

Just to be clear..... I don't own the record " Time Circle".
This is what I found on a music forum where this subject is being discussed.

"TC" was released in 1991. So maybe it did eventually start to bother him.....or maybe he was just being polite.

The circumstances of Randy's death are so sad.
He was a good man.

 

[wfgodot]

DM:

Did Led Zeppelin steal Stairway to Heaven? Federal judge orders trial by jury after 70s rockers lose their bid to stop proceedings

 

[AlwaysShocked]

Why would anyone have waited this long to bring a lawsuit? Sheesh!

Hey, they were all good.

I remember the whole kerfluffle about "My Sweet Lord". Having been around at the time of the original popularity of "She's So Fine" - or was it "He's So Fine"? - I never connected the two songs when "My Sweet Lord" (always a favorite of mine from my favorite Beatle) came out by George Harrison.

Oh, this getting old is tough. I cried when George died. I cried when David Bowie died. My adult daughter thinks I'm nuts. Do songs define young peoples' lives like they once did?

 

[wfgodot]

[video=youtube;sYiEesMbe2I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYiEesMbe2I[/video]

 

[La Louve]

There's a whole generation that cried when Kurt Cobain died, so I'd say yes, songs do define young people's lives even today.

As for the lawsuit against Led Zep, I'll quote my buddy Paul Hewson: "every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief".

 

[JerseyGirl]

DM:

Did Led Zeppelin steal Stairway to Heaven? Federal judge orders trial by jury after 70s rockers lose their bid to stop proceedings

A jury trial is scheduled for May 10 in Los Angeles. Klausner's ruling removed Zeppelin band member John Paul Jones from the case. Bandmates Robert Plant and Jimmy Page remain defendants in the case.

A trial would represent the third time in recent months that a Los Angeles federal jury has heard a copyright-infringement case involving a hit song. In March 2015, a jury found that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams had copied a Marvin Gaye song to create their 2013 hit, 'Blurred Lines' and awarded Gaye's children $7.4 million. A judge trimmed the award, and the verdict is under appeal.
Later in the year, another jury was empaneled to determine whether the Jay-Z hit 'Big Pimpin'' copied the work of an Egyptian composer, but a judge ruled in the rapper's favor before deliberations began.

another article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...way-to-heaven-copyright-infringement-lawsuit/

 

[MizStery]

When it comes to songwriting, there's a fine line between inspiration and plagiarism
This week Led Zeppelin were accused of plagiarism. And they're not the first band to take more than just inspiration from those who've gone before
<snip>
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/when-it-comes-to-songwriting-theres-a-fine-line-between-inspiration-and-plagiarism-2021199.html

OK,this is hard ...but 'Fool in the Rain' just might be my favorite:luv: Led Zeppelin song.

fftopic:
Oh,and offtopic;perhaps my favorite metal song and favorite guitar riff of all time is Deep Purple 'Smoke on the Water'. :guitar:

 

[dog.gone.cute]

:seeya:

I read an article yesterday about Zeppelin and this copyright lawsuit.

Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/led-...l-stairway-heaven-copyright/story?id=38340863

Last week, Judge Gary Klausner decided the songs were similar enough to move forward with a jury trial, which has been scheduled for May 10. The judge also dismissed claims against Jones, the band's publisher, Super Hype Publishing, and Warner Music Group because none of those parties performed or distributed "Stairway to Heaven" within the statute of limitations.


JMO but I do not believe these songs are "similar" -- there may be a few musical notes that sound similar -- but that's it ... not enough IMO to warrant a lawsuit.

:waitasec: Oh, how I wish I could sit on that jury ... :floorlaugh: !

 

[dog.gone.cute]

When it comes to songwriting, there's a fine line between inspiration and plagiarism
This week Led Zeppelin were accused of plagiarism. And they're not the first band to take more than just inspiration from those who've gone before
<snip>
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/when-it-comes-to-songwriting-theres-a-fine-line-between-inspiration-and-plagiarism-2021199.html

OK,this is hard ...but 'Fool in the Rain' just might be my favorite:luv: Led Zeppelin song.

fftopic:
Oh,and offtopic;perhaps my favorite metal song and favorite guitar riff of all time is Deep Purple 'Smoke on the Water'. :guitar:

:seeya:

BBM:

:drumroll: Mine is Trampled Underfoot !

 

[wfgodot]

Some keen oldies here:

[video=youtube;1GWMvCXdsG4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GWMvCXdsG4[/video]

^^ also this rip-off jerkwad.

 

[andreww]

Normally I would put the similarities in the song down to coincidence, however Page and Plant have a very long record of ripping off other artists without giving songwriting credit. The couple of songs listed here are simply the tip of the iceberg. Page claimed never to have heard of Spirit's Taurus even though Spirit opened for Zeppelin on several occasions, and the Spirit album was found in Page's record collection, his feeble excuse being that some house guest must have brought it to a party. Ya right :thinking:

 

[Caffeine]

Never been a huge Zep fan, though I do like many songs. Stairway wasn't really one of them though.

But yeah, similar intro riffs.

 

[wfgodot]

Guardian:

Led Zeppelin's plagiarism lawsuit: a sign of the times in the music industry

 

[wfgodot]

Guardian:

Led Zeppelin stars to appear in court for Stairway to Heaven copyright trial

 

[cubbeegirl]

Tweets from the courtroom.... Some quite amusing ....


Hands Jimmy Page a page and tells him to read it aloud...
Page ...." Confidential " ( was written across top of page. ....
Comparing Stairway to Heaven to Mary Poppins , Chim Chim Cheree ?


https://mobile.twitter.com/PamelaChelin

 

[cubbeegirl]

Wow! I have that Spirit album...still and listened to it non stop back in the 70's IIRC. I never associated the two as Led Zepplin's is so distinctive and to my ear, different.

What do you think?

Just joining this thread and I have both albums as well and while there are some similarities , I think it's a stretch .