Stairway to heaven law suit ?

[ambient]

Not heard of this before, and have I've never heard of the band or song it's alleged to have been copied from.

I have to say that judging by this, in my opinion there's enough dissimilarity.

[url="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/12/stairway-to-heavens-opening-chords-may-have-been-stolen-judge-says"]http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/12/stairway-to-heavens-opening-chords-may-have-been-stolen-judge-says[/url]

[spectoremg]

'Team Led Zep' ought to be good at this now, they've settled for loads of stuff out of court already.

[ambient]

Isn't the whole thing a little late ? I mean how old are the songs ? Why now, and not years ago ?

[xgsjx]

Money & a skint/greedy relative?

[lojo]

I'm sure this has come up before and I remember getting that spirit album in the 80s , as soon as I heard it I looked at the date to see if it was post Zeppelin

[Grangur]

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1460440356' post='3025649']
I'm sure this has come up before and I remember getting that spirit album in the 80s , as soon as I heard it I looked at the date to see if it was post Zeppelin
[/quote]

I thought this was the same band again. I guess in the USA you can get the case brought up in each state in turn, until you get the right result.

[xgsjx]

I'm waiting for ZZ top to sue Status Quo!

[BassBus]

And so many people will now look at the Spirit song on YouTube and make them lots of money from that. The phrase "clutching at straws" comes to mind.

[Number6]

I did hear that Page said he never heard the song/band until 2014.....even though they toured together in the 70s.

Man that was some good $h1£

[Conan]

[quote name='BassBus' timestamp='1460444212' post='3025671']The phrase "clutching at straws" comes to mind.
[/quote]

I thought that was Marillion?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFQwkm_xbF0

[keefbaker]

It's not like Led Zep don't have previous. I mean.. the whole "dazed and confused" debacle.

[BassBus]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1460444984' post='3025677']
I thought that was Marillion?
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFQwkm_xbF0[/media]
[/quote]

Now your just Fishing.

[toneknob]

Here's one for fans of Led Zep III.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0hG3Gib-Is

[Fozza]

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1460444869' post='3025675']
I did hear that Page said he never heard the song/band until 2014.....even though they toured together in the 70s.

Man that was some good $h1£
[/quote]

Indeed. Zep have a lot of previous in "borrowing" from other artists. They even have previous of borrowing from Spirit before the whole Stairway thing. From Wikipedia:-

Led Zeppelin opened for Spirit on an American tour in 1968, and also borrowed the riff of "Fresh Garbage" during early live performances of the song 'As Long as I Have You'.

Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Page?

[wateroftyne]

How many bands have ripped off LZ since?

And many of the artists LZ nicked ideas from, nicked from their peers and predecessors in the first place.

And so it goes.

[ras52]

I suspect this would never had happened were it not for the Blurred Lines suit.

Note that in both cases, it's the estate of a deceased composer who's bringing the suit, not the allegedly plagiarised themselves. OK, Marvin Gaye never heard Blurred Lines, but I'm pretty sure that Randy California had heard Stairway to Heaven, and recently Tom Petty reached an amicable arranged with Sam Smith over Won't Back Down/Stand By Me and downplayed the whole thing in interviews.

So my conclusion is that it's the estates that are being greedy. The artists themselves are generally more laid-back about - perhaps because they know of cases where they themselves have been, ahem, inspired!

[KevB]

Could also be a management company looking to make some extra money. I don't think Randy California (drowned in 1997) owned the rights completely to Taurus and 50% is owned by someone else, maybe a publishing company? The guy who has brought the lawsuit is involved with California's estate so maybe his relatives are looking to get in on it too.

[PaulWarning]

in an attempts to marry 2 similar threads, anybody know if the serial plagiariser Paul Weller has ever been sued?

[odysseus]

Similar claims have been made about The Eagles' Hotel California being a rip off of Jethro Tull's We Used To Know, but I don't think it ever went as far as court AFAIK. The general consensus among musos is that chord progressions were shared in the same manner as needles back in the day.

Look at blues and rock'n'roll - I guess some stuff is considered more 'open source' than others. I can understand people getting upset about apparent 'plagiarism' though. I guess the debate will rumble on.... *shrug*

[ambient]

What I'm baffled by, is the timespan. It's taken this band almost half a century to claim that one of the most recognisable songs from the 20th century has been nicked from them.

[chris_b]

I wouldn't blame greedy estates. I'd blame lazy songwriters.

Apparently Led Zeppelin had a policy of taking songs and changing just enough so they didn't get sued. I read that Page was rather pissed of with Plant because he didn't change the lyrics enough.

You can get cases years later because a recent court case ruling might have made success more likely.

[Grangur]

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1460453305' post='3025761']
Could also be a management company looking to make some extra money. I don't think Randy California (drowned in 1997) owned the rights completely to Taurus and 50% is owned by someone else, maybe a publishing company? The guy who has brought the lawsuit is involved with California's estate so maybe his relatives are looking to get in on it too.
[/quote]

It could be what happens when relatives over estimate the value of the estate, especially when it's split 19 ways and "Rich Uncle Randy's" estate doesn't amount to so much. Not that I've researched this guy at all.

[pfretrock]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1460456323' post='3025811']
I read that Page was rather pissed of with Plant because he didn't change the lyrics enough.
[/quote]

I guess there are not too many lyrics in 'White Summer' ?

[The-Ox]

as talented as he is, Page is known for this, didn't he deny he stole Dazed and Confused?

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1460449832' post='3025720']
How many bands have ripped off LZ since?

And many of the artists LZ nicked ideas from, nicked from their peers and predecessors in the first place.

And so it goes.
[/quote]

Yes, it does have a familiar ring to it doesn't it?