led zeppelin being sued for plagiarism over "stairway to heaven"

[Indofred]

There is clearly a similarity.

Watch out Airbus, Boeing will be after you for using two wings and a tail.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Yes, the songs have the same name, that's a fantastic insight!

its the same song Frank....have you ever heard Willie Dixon sing it?....1962 recording....same lyrics....Zepplin just did a hard rock version of it.....

I'm pretty sure my vinyl led zeppelin I credits Willie dixon

Sent from smartphone using my wits and Taptalk

Frank what you said above about having the same name kinda insinuated that, that was the only similarity between the songs....if you did not mean it that way....then accept my apologies....

 

[Harry Dresden]

There is clearly a similarity.

Watch out Airbus, Boeing will be after you for using two wings and a tail.

geezus Fred go back to sleep....

 

[Indofred]

There is clearly a similarity.

Watch out Airbus, Boeing will be after you for using two wings and a tail.

geezus Fred go back to sleep....

Come on, both songs use similar sounds, but not close enough to be a copy.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

its the same song Frank....have you ever heard Willie Dixon sing it?....1962 recording....same lyrics....Zepplin just did a hard rock version of it.....

I'm pretty sure my vinyl led zeppelin I credits Willie dixon

Sent from smartphone using my wits and Taptalk

Frank what you said above about having the same name kinda insinuated that, that was the only similarity between the songs....if you did not mean it that way....then accept my apologies....

LedZep played a lot of standards. They played John Lee Hooker, Elvis, Willie Dixon, etc. sometimes they played it as originally composed like You Shook Me, but sometimes they took the originals and made "Gallows Pole" and "Nobodys Fault" that only bear vague similarities between the original.

Robert Plant is the best male voice in history, bar none. I never really appreciated that until recently. But it's not just that either. Listen to Gallow's Pole, Leadbelly, then LedZep. How can anyone say it's the same song????

 

[peach174]

I don't think they have a chance of winning.

There is a sequence of four chords descending in pitch , repeated twice , the rest of the song then finishes in the major key. Stairway to heaven is in a minor key and has a different chord change and sequence.

Any band or musician could be able to sue anyone else who uses the same or similar chords arranged in a similar sequence, and if that was the case then all blues , blue grass and country and western singers would be sued also.

This A minor chromatic pattern is present in hundreds of different songs and many different time signatures. For example it is clearly heard in different Latin American tunes, Stevie Wonder, and others. The Beatles have played it in the key of E minor in songs like "I'm only Sleeping," and others. George Harrison uses in within the song "Something in the Way She Moves." It is a standard bridge for songs.

 

[Harry Dresden]

Watch out Airbus, Boeing will be after you for using two wings and a tail.

geezus Fred go back to sleep....

Come on, both songs use similar sounds, but not close enough to be a copy.

so what does it have to do with plane design?......patents are different than copyrights...

 

[Pogo]

I don't think they have a chance of winning.

There is a sequence of four chords descending in pitch , repeated twice , the rest of the song then finishes in the major key. Stairway to heaven is in a minor key and has a different chord change and sequence.

Any band or musician could be able to sue anyone else who uses the same or similar chords arranged in a similar sequence, and if that was the case then all blues , blue grass and country and western singers would be sued also.

This A minor chromatic pattern is present in hundreds of different songs and many different time signatures. For example it is clearly heard in different Latin American tunes, Stevie Wonder, and others. The Beatles have played it in the key of E minor in songs like "I'm only Sleeping," and others. George Harrison uses in within the song "Something in the Way She Moves." It is a standard bridge for songs.

Exactly, I fully agree. The main reason for this suit IMO is the long legacy of plagiarism that LZ already is guilty of. Somebody wants to pile on. But taken on its own merits, this is not such a case.

This comparison has been brought up for years and years, as soon as people started figuring out the rest of the LZ pattern. If it were valid it should have been brought up then. LZ should be able to successfully defend this suit on a laches basis alone.

 

[shart_attack]

Umm, yeah it does — matter.

I guess you didn't read that Zep and Spirit played a few shows together back in '69.

Clearly, Randy California and Spirit have a claim here.

We do, after all, live in Obama's America.

(I'll let you figure out what that means.)

No, they don't have a claim. There is a vague similarity, but it isn't even close to plagiarism.

Christ. So many rock musical scores are similar. Most metal songs are in the Key of C and use 5 basic chords.

No they're not. Get that nu metal crap outta here, or at least try to learn something before you speak, and totally bust yourself out as not having a clue wtf you're talking about.

Most metal songs—traditional, REAL metal in standard E A D G B E tuning—are written in E minor.

 

[Harry Dresden]

I'm pretty sure my vinyl led zeppelin I credits Willie dixon

Sent from smartphone using my wits and Taptalk

Frank what you said above about having the same name kinda insinuated that, that was the only similarity between the songs....if you did not mean it that way....then accept my apologies....

LedZep played a lot of standards. They played John Lee Hooker, Elvis, Willie Dixon, etc. sometimes they played it as originally composed like You Shook Me, but sometimes they took the originals and made "Gallows Pole" and "Nobodys Fault" that only bear vague similarities between the original.

Robert Plant is the best male voice in history, bar none. I never really appreciated that until recently. But it's not just that either. Listen to Gallow's Pole, Leadbelly, then LedZep. How can anyone say it's the same song????

if its the same lyrics even thought it sounds different you have to give the original composer credit.....Gallows pole is considered a traditional folk song and its not really known who composed it.....Leadbelly was just the first guy to record it in 1939....his title was "Gallis Pole"....

 

[Pogo]

I'm pretty sure my vinyl led zeppelin I credits Willie dixon

Sent from smartphone using my wits and Taptalk

Frank what you said above about having the same name kinda insinuated that, that was the only similarity between the songs....if you did not mean it that way....then accept my apologies....

LedZep played a lot of standards. They played John Lee Hooker, Elvis, Willie Dixon, etc. sometimes they played it as originally composed like You Shook Me, but sometimes they took the originals and made "Gallows Pole" and "Nobodys Fault" that only bear vague similarities between the original.

Robert Plant is the best male voice in history, bar none. I never really appreciated that until recently. But it's not just that either. Listen to Gallow's Pole, Leadbelly, then LedZep. How can anyone say it's the same song????

I guess if you can type "Robert Plant is the best male voice in history, bar none" with a straight face, then it's understandable you also see only "vague similarities" between the stolen songs. Have you had a hearing test?

Also interesting that if these are only "vague similarities" that LZ has settled other suits and started inserting credits on later pressings that weren't on the original releases. Why would they do that if they actually wrote them?

Jake Holmes: Dazed and Confused, 1967 --- two years before the first LZ release.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTsvs-pAGDc"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTsvs-pAGDc[/ame]

"Vague similarities"?

 

[Pogo]

Frank what you said above about having the same name kinda insinuated that, that was the only similarity between the songs....if you did not mean it that way....then accept my apologies....

LedZep played a lot of standards. They played John Lee Hooker, Elvis, Willie Dixon, etc. sometimes they played it as originally composed like You Shook Me, but sometimes they took the originals and made "Gallows Pole" and "Nobodys Fault" that only bear vague similarities between the original.

Robert Plant is the best male voice in history, bar none. I never really appreciated that until recently. But it's not just that either. Listen to Gallow's Pole, Leadbelly, then LedZep. How can anyone say it's the same song????

if its the same lyrics even thought it sounds different you have to give the original composer credit.....Gallows pole is considered a traditional folk song and its not really know who composed it.....Leadbelly was just the first guy to record it in 1939....his title was "Gallis Pole"....

Correctomundo. That applies to a couple of others too in the folk process; if Leadbelly was passing on something already in existence you don't technically have to give him writing credit -- but at the same time you don't put your OWN name on there and claim YOU wrote it when you obviously didn't.

 

[R.C. Christian]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RD1KqbDdmuE]Waynes World ('92) - No stairway, denied - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Uncensored2008]

Oh please, that's a very common chord arrangement in many songs - not just rock songs. Aside from the opening the songs are nothing alike.

Listen to the bridge section at 2:00 of this No Doubt song. It's the same type of progression.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kRpZJ9EgJho

Plus, it is the arpeggio (picking pattern) that makes the Stairway so iconic. The Chord progression is a common A minor pentatonic.

 

[waltky]

Spirit loses 'Starway to Heaven' plagiarism lawsuit...

• 

Led Zeppelin win “Stairway to Heaven” plagiarism lawsuit
June 23, 2016, Jury says the band did not lift Spirit's song "Taurus"

The longstanding copyright dispute regarding Led Zeppelin’s classic “Stairway to Heaven” has finally been resolved. After a day of deliberations, a jury in Los Angeles found that the band did not plagiarize Spirit’s song “Taurus”. The trial, which began back on June 14th, saw the attorneys representing the estate of Spirit founder Randy “California” Wolfe go head-to-head with Zeppelin, accusing them of lifting the Spirit song “Taurus”, which was written and recorded in 1967. In the time between then and the recording of “Stairway to Heaven” in 1971, Zeppelin shared the stage with Spirit. Guitarist Jimmy Page acknowledged that Spirit may have influenced his writing of the song, but called accusations of plagiarism “ridiculous.”

Jury members had much to consider while determining their verdict, as Rolling Stone reports. The main attorney for California’s estate, Francis Malofiy, emphatically represented his plaintiff, telling the court, “This case is about copying. Give. Credit. Where. Credit. is Due.” He also called upon expert witnesses who supported presiding US District Judge R. Gary Klausner’s April findings, saying both “Taurus” and “Stairway” possess “substantial similarity…that is memorable and unique.” Additionally, Malofiy made it a point to attack Zeppelin members Page and Robert Plant — who both took the stand — claiming they had “a selective memory” and seemed to forget the many interviews they gave in the early ’70s in which they expressed their appreciation for Spirit’s music. He also brought up the fact that Page owned five Spirit albums, including the 1968 self-titled LP which contained “Taurus”, and suggested that, because Page was a seasoned session musician who often played other artists’ music, his ability to pen original material was “compromised.”

Zeppelin’s counsel, Peter Anderson, did his part in defending Page and Plant, repeatedly emphasizing the testimony of musicologist Lawrence Ferrara. The esteemed expert concluded that, aside from comparable elements, “Taurus” and “Stairway” shared “no substantial similarity.” Anderson also refuted Malofiy’s claims that Zeppelin members had access to Spirit’s recordings. Specifically, he highlighted evidence that “Taurus” was never played at a critical 1970 Spirit concert in Plant’s Birmingham hometown, nor was Plant even in attendance that night. Anderson also argued that Page and Plant’s foggy memory regarding the song’s creation can simply be chalked up to time — it’s been almost 50 years since “Stairway” was first released.

The estate for California was seeking monetary compensation as well as a songwriting credit. According to Malofiy and his economist Dr. Michael Einhorn, the assessed damages totaled “somewhere in the middle” of $10 million in alleged gross profits. Ironically, the lawsuit only came to a head after Zeppelin reissued “Stairway to Heaven” in 2014. Prior to that, the case fell outside the state of limitations. In a statement issued following the jury’s ruling, Page and Plant said, “We are grateful for the jury’s conscientious service and pleased that it has ruled in our favor, putting to rest questions about the origins of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and confirming what we have known for 45 years. We appreciate our fans’ support, and look forward to putting this legal matter behind us.”

Warner Music also celebrated, saying: “At Warner Music Group, supporting our artists and protecting their creative freedom is paramount. We are pleased that the jury found in favor of Led Zeppelin, re-affirming the true origins of ‘Stairway to Heaven’. Led Zeppelin is one of the greatest bands in history, and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant are peerless songwriters who created many of rock’s most influential and enduring songs.”

Compare the two songs in the video below:

 

[CrusaderFrank]

I'm pretty sure my vinyl led zeppelin I credits Willie dixon

Sent from smartphone using my wits and Taptalk

Frank what you said above about having the same name kinda insinuated that, that was the only similarity between the songs....if you did not mean it that way....then accept my apologies....

LedZep played a lot of standards. They played John Lee Hooker, Elvis, Willie Dixon, etc. sometimes they played it as originally composed like You Shook Me, but sometimes they took the originals and made "Gallows Pole" and "Nobodys Fault" that only bear vague similarities between the original.

Robert Plant is the best male voice in history, bar none. I never really appreciated that until recently. But it's not just that either. Listen to Gallow's Pole, Leadbelly, then LedZep. How can anyone say it's the same song????

I guess if you can type "Robert Plant is the best male voice in history, bar none" with a straight face, then it's understandable you also see only "vague similarities" between the stolen songs. Have you had a hearing test?

Also interesting that if these are only "vague similarities" that LZ has settled other suits and started inserting credits on later pressings that weren't on the original releases. Why would they do that if they actually wrote them?

Jake Holmes: Dazed and Confused, 1967 --- two years before the first LZ release.

[ame="[MEDIA=youtube]pTsvs-pAGDc[/MEDIA]"]

"Vague similarities"?

You must have skipped over this, "LedZep played a lot of standards. They played John Lee Hooker, Elvis, Willie Dixon, etc. sometimes they played it as originally composed like You Shook Me, but sometimes they took the originals and made "Gallows Pole" and "Nobodys Fault" that only bear vague similarities between the original."

 

[Mr Natural]

There's only 12 notes. After a few hundred years of Western music, there's bound to be some similarity between songs.

 

[Godboy]

There's only 12 notes. After a few hundred years of Western music, there's bound to be some similarity between songs.

There are many similar songs, which Jimmy Page demonstrated in court with a guitar. Wish I was a jury member... front row seat!

 

[Pogo]

I'm pretty sure my vinyl led zeppelin I credits Willie dixon

Sent from smartphone using my wits and Taptalk

Frank what you said above about having the same name kinda insinuated that, that was the only similarity between the songs....if you did not mean it that way....then accept my apologies....

LedZep played a lot of standards. They played John Lee Hooker, Elvis, Willie Dixon, etc. sometimes they played it as originally composed like You Shook Me, but sometimes they took the originals and made "Gallows Pole" and "Nobodys Fault" that only bear vague similarities between the original.

Robert Plant is the best male voice in history, bar none. I never really appreciated that until recently. But it's not just that either. Listen to Gallow's Pole, Leadbelly, then LedZep. How can anyone say it's the same song????

I guess if you can type "Robert Plant is the best male voice in history, bar none" with a straight face, then it's understandable you also see only "vague similarities" between the stolen songs. Have you had a hearing test?

Also interesting that if these are only "vague similarities" that LZ has settled other suits and started inserting credits on later pressings that weren't on the original releases. Why would they do that if they actually wrote them?

Jake Holmes: Dazed and Confused, 1967 --- two years before the first LZ release.

[ame="[MEDIA=youtube]pTsvs-pAGDc[/MEDIA]"]

"Vague similarities"?

You must have skipped over this, "LedZep played a lot of standards. They played John Lee Hooker, Elvis, Willie Dixon, etc. sometimes they played it as originally composed like You Shook Me, but sometimes they took the originals and made "Gallows Pole" and "Nobodys Fault" that only bear vague similarities between the original."

Nope. However I'm still laughing, months later, over the characterization "vague similarities" used to describe direct and flagrant ripoffs.

If you find a song, think it's awesome and want to express it, that's fine. Just don't lie to the whole fucking world and rip off the actual composer by claiming you wrote the damn song, when you clearly didn't.