• Led Zeppelin members face trial in ‘Stairway to Heaven’ copyright infringement lawsuit
    27 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” has faced a lot of accusations in the 45 years since it was released. It’s overplayed, some say, particularly at high volumes by dudes trying to impress other dudes at guitar shops. It’s overlong, say others. And, for years, people have said “Stairway” sounds a lot like “Taurus” — a song by a much less famous band called Spirit who performed it allegedly while sharing bills with Zeppelin in the late 1960s. (You can listen for yourself [URL="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/21/does-led-zeppelin-owe-spirit-a-songwriting-credit-for-stairway-to-heaven/"]here[/URL].) But after decades of gossip, members of Led Zeppelin — specifically, singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page, the writers of “Stairway” — will face a jury trial on May 10. The question: Did they copy at least some parts of their most famous song? “While it is true that a descending chromatic four-chord progression is a common convention that abounds in the music industry, the similarities here transcend this core structure,” U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner of the Central District of California wrote in a 20-page opinion denying, in part, Led Zeppelin’s motion for summary judgment. “For example, the descending bass line in both Taurus and Stairway to Heaven appears at the beginning of both songs, arguably the most recognizable and important segments. [/QUOTE] [url]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/12/led-zeppelin-members-face-trial-in-stairway-to-heaven-copyright-infringement-lawsuit/?postshare=3921460475265357&tid=ss_fb[/url] Honestly I don't see why Spirit is suing now when they could've done it years ago, also I don't think you can copyright a chromatic four-chord progression
Except that riff is blues history... like most of the stuff Zeppelin has "copied." They loved folk music and blues, it's no shock they integrated a lot of those themes with their music. And let's be honest, they blew it out of the water. Alleging that they [I]had[/I] to steal anything is just stupid - everything they "copied" is a tribute - because that's how it do in blues. Their writing and musical talents are phenomenal. Very little compares. Spirit is upset because they didn't hit it big like Zeppelin and nobody remembers their names from anything other than their whining about Stairway. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB8JXBTmHXY[/media] Talentless hacks, everybody. That's why they had to steal Spirit's totally superior 4 notes.
this is ridiculous honestly, instead of music it's about money and nothing else. it's sad.
Damn I'd be so tired after 45 years of this...
spirit were actually very good but to come out with this 40 years afterwards is a farce.
[QUOTE=AK'z;50118891]spirit were actually very good but to come out with this 40 years afterwards is a farce.[/QUOTE] They were good - but they weren't great - and to allege that Zeppelin ripped them off is a joke - let alone that that rip-off is the sole reason for their success.
I remember a segment on the Colbert Report about this. This lawsuit has been going on for ages! [URL="http://www.cc.com/episodes/8du5am/the-colbert-report-june-12--2014---james-webb-season-10-ep-10118"]Found it[/URL] - [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Colbert_Report_episodes_(2014)#June"]June 12th, 2014.[/URL]
best version [video=youtube;Yt0GG-c1Jvc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt0GG-c1Jvc[/video]
Copyright claims over "musical similarities' is horseshit and should never be considered by the Judges due to their frivolity. Imagine if every EDM song could sued because it shared chord-similarities with 99% of the genre.
[QUOTE=Starpluck;50118920]Copyright claims over "musical similarities' is horseshit and should never be considered by the Judges due to their frivolity. Imagine if every EDM song could sued because it shared chord-similarities with 99% of the genre.[/QUOTE] I can see why using samples may be dismissed, as well as mainstream pop music that essentially uses the same key, structure, chords and chord progressions - but there can definitely be instances where artists have unequivocally used another artists work in such as way that it makes an unaware listener who has heard the first piece of music find the second more familiar.
The songs in question: [video=youtube;gFHLO_2_THg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFHLO_2_THg[/video] [video=youtube;CPSkNFODVRE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPSkNFODVRE[/video] I don't see it to be honest. If this was like Andrew Lloyd Webber ripping the bass line from Pink Floyd's Echoes for The Phantom of the Opera's MAIN THEME then I could see a case, but this is grasping at straws at best. Sure, Zeppelin copied some of their material (and some of them are just straight up blues standards), but lately they've been crediting artists for their work that they used, namely the guy who wrote Dazed and Confused.
[QUOTE=The_J_Hat;50118949]If this was like Andrew Lloyd Webber ripping the bass line from Pink Floyd's Echoes for The Phantom of the Opera's MAIN THEME then I could see a case[/QUOTE] Wait, did he actually do this? He pretty much tried to take the entirety of POTO from Gaston Leroux (and as far as I know his version is still the only one that doesn't pay the Leroux estate the traditional small bills everyone else does), so I can't tell if you just mentioned a hypothetical scenario or a real event. I can believe both.
Skip to around 4:56 to hear the bit in question [video=youtube;KBca3xf-j3o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBca3xf-j3o[/video] [video=youtube;-JaeBxYCI9k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JaeBxYCI9k[/video]
AFAIK it's not spirit but someone handling an estate for one of the members?
"Copying some parts"? No way in hell should it be allowable to sue for that. Hell, the foundation of melody writing is the amalgamation of different techniques to make new songs. Imagine if Weezer was sued because the main riff of Undone is an alteration of Metallica's "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
Ugh hasn't torus been settled in the court at least 4 times now Even if you find the opening similar, torus and stairway are totally different songs
Sue every pop band ever for ripping off Pachalbel.
Led Zeppelin are famous for using riffs that other blues musicians used in their recordings, and blues musicians are in general famous for using riffs they've heard from others. It's bullshit, there is so much "stealing" in blues it's not even funny, it's the whole 'Elvis stole black music' argument which is also bullshit. [editline]13th April 2016[/editline] I'm a blues fanatic and musician and I've thought about this a lot
45 Years. They never do anything fast do they? Let's not bring this to court at the time just almost half a century after..
It's no secret that Zeppelin has copied parts of songs and sometimes recorded whole songs from other artist without crediting them but in this case it's far from plagiarism. I have been playing music for 15 years and I have extensive knowledge of music theory, I definitely think Page heard Taurus and built on it but that is not the same thing as copying something and coming out 45 years later about it is just stupid. [editline]13th April 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Water-Marine;50119026]"Copying some parts"? No way in hell should it be allowable to sue for that. Hell, the foundation of melody writing is the amalgamation of different techniques to make new songs. Imagine if Weezer was sued because the main riff of Undone is an alteration of Metallica's "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"[/QUOTE] Undone and sanitarium only sounds alike to some people because of the somewhat same picking pattern though, theoretically they aren't even remotely like each other. In this case the songs are almost the same in their theoretical functioning but it's just a small part and the picking pattern is not the same.
I find it sillier that Led Zeppelin could call Wayne's World playing half a dozen notes from the intro copyright infringement and have that bit changed so they weren't actually playing Stairway to Heaven in that scene even though it was kinda central to a gag.
[QUOTE=Nerts;50124729]I find it sillier that Led Zeppelin could call Wayne's World playing half a dozen notes from the intro copyright infringement and have that bit changed so they weren't actually playing Stairway to Heaven in that scene even though it was kinda central to a gag.[/QUOTE] WMG made them change it in the video release of the film, not sure how much the band themselves were involved with that.
I thought the band wanted it changed because they're notoriously picky about their songs being used in movies without their express permission.
Could certainly be the case, especially considering how Plant resents Stairway since it's one of their best known songs but he doesn't consider it very good.
So, when are we getting Vanilla Ice?
The spirit Song also sounds like Oasis Masterplan. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPPi2D6GK7A[/media] So many songs sound similar...
I should get in on this scheme early and copyright all uses of the "G" chord.
I'm a huge Zeppelin fan but they definitely lifted that opening lick. I don't really think that series of notes is worth a copyright lawsuit though.
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