# Led Zep Wins Stairway to Heaven Case (Again)



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51805905

I know, I know about the other rip offs........


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

That's got to be disappointing for the band that hardly anyone heard of until they sued Led Zeppelin.


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

If you're going to sue, it should be soon. Waiting nearly 50 years cannot help your case.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

It is a total ripoff. Those judges need to be recalled.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Nah, it's just a similar chord progression. And not exactly the same. That other lawsuit against George Harrison for lifting She's So Fine was bogus too. If Zeppelin ripped of anything, it was Dazed and Confused from Jake Holmes.


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## Room2201974 (Jan 23, 2018)

Copyright protection is not extended to harmonic progression. If it was, there would have been a ton of lawsuits concerning Jazz contrafacts. Melody is what copyright protection is all about, that's why so many folks have always copyrighted lead sheets. In the _My Sweet Lord _ case, the melody of _He's So Fine_ was used for at least 8 measures...clearly a rip off.

The Tauras lawsuit never met the legal criteria of copyright theft because the melodies are dissimilar.

Going back to the _My Sweet Lord_ case, Harrison was hit with copyright infringement and had to pay big money in back royalties to the writers of _He's So Fine_. But he wasn't the only one responsible. One of the main jobs of a producer is to make sure of song/album originality and quality. So in that case I've always pointed the finger at Spector too. He should have caught the resemblance between the two songs but he didn't. But could you imagine a producer allowing a note for note reproduction of a Willie Dixon song and then not acknowledging the writer of that song who was then not paid royalties??????? Gee, I wonder who such a producer might be????


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I think I'll file a Copyright Form for the Key of "C" Major.

(I wonder if that will cover the Key of "a" Minor as well???)


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## erki (Feb 17, 2020)

Hungarian people could sue all these composers that have ripped their czardas and made a fortune doing so. Even 100+ years later!


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Manxfeeder said:


> That's got to be disappointing for the band that hardly anyone heard of until they sued Led Zeppelin.


Don't be silly.

Spirit, while not achieving the legendary status of Zeppelin, was still a well known band in the late 60s and 70s.

On the other hand Guitarist Randy California is legendary.

The songs did have very similar chord progressions, but you can't copyright a harmonic progression, lest Pachebel's estate would be receiving royalties from hundreds of songs. And it's not like Zeppelin hasn't been accused of plagiarism before.

*Spirit* had several songs, and at least two albums, that could be considered "classic"


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