Led Zeppelin’s Victory on the Stairway to Heaven

Led Zeppelin emerged victorious in their recent copyright infringement lawsuit against the estate of founding Spirit guitarist, Randy Wolfe, proving once and for all that their smash hit, Stairway To Heaven, is a unique composition and arguably one of the most successful Rock and Roll songs of all time. But in addition to asserting Stairway’s dominance, this landmark decision could possibly change the music industry’s copyright infringement battle ground in the coming years.

Today, popular artists and their hit songs are often facing critical scrutiny. This new trend has led to an abundance of infringement accusations in the last decade. While some cases, such as the Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” dispute, have been legitimate, other lawsuits, such as the Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” debacle, are viewed by many as completely unfounded. Especially after last year’s controversial “Blurred Lines” decision, which required the hit’s songwriters to pay over 5.3 million dollars in damages for replicating the “feel” of Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up,” many artists have been afraid that creative inspiration will inevitably turn into an expensive and time-consuming copyright lawsuit which will, in turn, stifle artistic creativity.

Thankfully, because of Led Zeppelin’s recent victory, common musical motifs, such as a descending chromatic scale, are now officially not copyrightable, restoring a level of creative freedom that could have been relinquished after 2015’s “Blurred Lines” verdict. Additionally, it is predicted that this legal triumph could diminish future gratuitous copyright allegations now that songwriters can see that these cases are difficult to win.

This case reminds artists that music is rooted in inspiration. For example, in 2009, musical comedy group, The Axis Of Awesome, compiled together 40 pop songs into one mashup in order to prove that musicians have been rehashing the “I-V-vi-IV” chord progression for decades. Although these artists all were inspired by their influences and incorporated the same musical motif, very few of the compiled songs actually sound similar when listened to side by side. In other words, chord progressions are not subject to copyright protection, much like ideas or facts. If one artist could claim a limited monopoly on a musical progression, then the world would be deprived of future artistic creations and music would remain stagnant. Now that Led Zeppelin has defeated their legal opposition, musicians can now officially stand by the fact that chord progressions are useful tools that hopefully can be utilized without fear of infringement. In the end, this trial will go down in history as an important victory for artistic creativity.

Matt Wagner is a law clerk at Berenzweig Leonard, LLP who is currently studying Music Business and Songwriting at Belmont University.

Seth Berenzweig is the managing partner of  Berenzweig Leonard, LLP, works with artists and musicians, and is a member of the  Recording Academy. He can be reached at sberenzweig@BerenzweigLaw.com.

Trial Underway in Stairway to Heaven Lawsuit

Trial is underway in a U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, where the legendary British rock band Led Zeppelin has been sued for money damages and writer credits for the band’s iconic megahit “Stairway to Heaven.” In 2014, the estate of guitarist Randy California, a founding member of the band Spirit, filed a lawsuit claiming that Stairway’s iconic introduction was lifted directly from Spirit’s song “Taurus,” which Led Zeppelin allegedly heard while opening for Spirit on several concerts in the late 1960s.

Unable to dismiss the case on summary judgment, the band found itself in court this week, with guitarist Jimmy Page taking the witness stand for an hours-long grilling by plaintiff’s counsel. Page’s testimony centered on plaintiff’s counsel’s attempts to demonstrate Led Zeppelin’s familiarity with Spirit’s music, as well as any personal contact between the bands. Surprisingly, Page testified that he never heard Taurus until something appeared on the internet just a few years ago drawing attention to the comparison between Taurus and Stairway. Page further testified that, concerning a 1969 concert in Denver on which both Zeppelin and Spirit performed, he didn’t even know he was opening for Spirit; Page believed that Zeppelin was opening for Vanilla Fudge, another rock band. Additionally, he recalled that the members of Led Zeppelin left the venue immediately after their opening set in order to get to another performance the next day.

As trial continues to unfold, the legal battle surrounding one of the most iconic songs of all time appears to get more and more contentious. We can likely look forward to more colorful witness testimony, including from lead singer Robert Plant, and musicians everywhere should be keeping a close watch to see if the plaintiffs are ultimately successful in rewriting rock and roll history by having Randy California included as a writer on Stairway to Heaven.

Frank Gulino is an award-winning composer and attorney with Berenzweig Leonard, LLP. He can be reached at FGulino@BerenzweigLaw.com.