Zeppelin court case - NOT GUILTY!

[B]

Led Zeppelin's Trial Over 'Stairway to Heaven' Origin Begins
By MARILYN HECKLESLEY MESSER Jun 14, 2016, 10:12 PM

abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/led-zeppelins-trial-stairway-heaven-origin-begins/story?id=39862275

Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page appeared in the court today to face a claim that they ripped off the opening riff
to their iconic 1971 hit "Stairway to Heaven."

The 2014 lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, claims that the band stole the lick from a 1968 song
called "Taurus" by the band Spirit.

The late Randy Wolfe, who was known by the stage name "Randy California" was the composer of that song, and Michael Skidmore, a trustee for
the Randy Craig Wolfe Trust, filed the claim.

"This was a song that Randy California had written for the love of his life, Robin. That was her sign, Taurus," attorney Francis Malofiy said,
according to the Associated Press. "Little did anyone know it would fall into the hands of Jimmy Page and become the intro to 'Stairway to Heaven.'"

The AP reported that Peter Anderson, a lawyer for Led Zeppelin, said today there was no evidence that they stole the "Stairway to Heaven"
opening and that the Wolfe estate does not own the copyright.

Today eight jurors -- four men and four women of differing backgrounds - were selected and were told to expect a four to five day trial.
Then each side completed their opening statements.

Page shook his head in disagreement when the plaintiff’s attorney argued that Page was a session musician and not a songwriter
in the early days of Led Zeppelin, and that he lifted from Spirit’s song "Taurus."

The first witness for plaintiff’s side was Wolfe’s sister, Janet Wolfe, who said that her brother was a musical prodigy, coming from a musical family.
She also testified that he played "Taurus" all the time at concerts, as a tribute to his wife. Plant and Page claimed they didn’t know the song "Taurus,"
though they shared the bill at some concerts starting in Dec. 26, 1968.

The second witness was Jay Ferguson, a former member of Spirit. He testified that Spirit played at several concerts with Led Zeppelin and said
"Taurus" was played “quite often," though the defense said that the song wasn’t on any playlists that they saw from concerts.

Ferguson also argued that Led Zeppelin covered one of their songs, "Fresh Garbage." His testimony will continue tomorrow morning.

In April, Malofiy told ABC News that said his client is not seeking specified damages. However, the claims include statutory damages of $150,000 for each infringement.

[hotman637]

Why don't we all start a class action suite arguing that these guys are IMPOSTERS pretending to be Jimmy page and Robert plant! That will get headlines!

Of course if we win then they will be off the hook for the plagerism suite! Ironic!

[B]

Well, since they aren't, I don't think the class action 'suite' would have legs.

[hotman637]

So you think these two:

s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/9a/d1/8a/9ad18ab161519d1bc2752a4befaf0717.jpg


Are the same as these two?



image.excite.co.uk/music/news/led-zeppelin-default.jpg


I can't see it!

[beatlas231]

Jun 17, 2016 15:45:17 GMT -5 hotman637 said:

So you think these two:

s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/9a/d1/8a/9ad18ab161519d1bc2752a4befaf0717.jpg


Are the same as these two?



image.excite.co.uk/music/news/led-zeppelin-default.jpg


I can't see it!

Seriously?!?! I can see it....


OH wait....

[beatlas231]

[hotman637]

Jun 17, 2016 16:27:53 GMT -5 beatlas231 said:

Jun 17, 2016 15:45:17 GMT -5 hotman637 said:

So you think these two:

s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/9a/d1/8a/9ad18ab161519d1bc2752a4befaf0717.jpg


Are the same as these two?



image.excite.co.uk/music/news/led-zeppelin-default.jpg


I can't see it!

Seriously?!?! I can see it....


OH wait....

If those pictures did not convince people than look at this video of "Page" and "Plant" in 1985 (they were replaced in 1980). They STUNK!


www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppxkcb9r52g


Compare it to them in 1973!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Hb9ABpyts


If you read the comments and watch both videos you will see in 1973 they were GREAT and the REAL Page and Plant! In 1985 they were horrible and had NO IDEA what they doing cause they were DIFFERENT guys!

[B]

Plant said he does not recall spending time with the band Spirit, which claims the group stole from its song "Taurus"
for "Stairway to Heaven." The defense rested in the case Tuesday.

""In the chaos and hubbub, how are you going to remember one guy when you haven't seen him for 40 years?"

Led Zeppelin Singer Claims Foggy Memory in 'Stairway to Heaven' Lawsuit
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/stairway-heaven-case-robert-plant-claims-foggy-memory-n596786?cid=sm_fb

"....Singer Robert Plant on Tuesday told a packed courtroom he did not remember hanging out with Spirit, as the band's bass player
testified, after a 1970 show at a club Plant frequented in Birmingham, England. Plant said he and his wife
were in a bad car wreck and he has no memory of the evening.

"I don't have a recollection of mostly anyone I've hung out with," Plant said as the courtroom roared with laughter.
"In the chaos and hubbub, how are you going to remember one guy when you haven't seen him for 40 years?"

Plant had a much sharper memory of Headley Grange, a country house south of London where he said he was sitting by the fire
in the spring of 1970 when guitarist Jimmy Page played the intro on acoustic guitar and Plant offered the start of a couplet
he had been working on: "There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold/and she's buying a stairway to heaven."

Plant said he wanted to evoke pastoral Britain in what became "Stairway" and the writing process started "rolling pretty fast"
after he voiced the opening lines.

He would retreat to his room with a notepad as the other musicians developed the tune and return to sing his contributions
as it blossomed, sometimes hitting sour notes as he tried to match words to music.


Plant in court

The early recordings played in court captured Plant singing off key and testing lyrics that didn't make the final cut
and humming where he eventually sang the vocal hook, "It makes me wonder."

Vintage recordings of Led Zeppelin working on early versions of the song were played for jurors.

Page testified that his ambition was to write a song that would accelerate to a crescendo, and he first shared the opening
with keyboardist and bassist John Paul Jones to get an ally in his scheme.

The rough cuts included Page playing the instantly recognizable intro to Jones and then breaking into a strumming pattern later discarded.

Jurors never heard a note from Page or Plant live, but they were treated to lo--fi vintage recordings of the band creating
the song, renditions on guitar and piano by other musicians and, finally, the full 8-minute recording of one of rock's most enduring anthems.

Wolfe's estate is suing Page, Plant and their record label for copyright infringement, alleging they lifted the riff for the song's
introduction from the obscure 1968 instrumental "Taurus" by the band Spirit.

Led Zeppelin has settled several lawsuits in the past that alleged they stole from other songwriters.

While an economist for Wolfe's estate testified that works that include "Stairway" earned gross revenues of nearly $60 million
in the past five years, defense witnesses whittled that down.

An accountant testified Tuesday that Page and Plant have received a combined $1 million in "Stairway" gross revenues since 2011.
An executive for record label Rhino Entertainment Co. said the song brought in $3 million in sales and netted $868,000 in that period."

----------------------------------

[B]

Led Zeppelin Did Not Steal ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ Jury Says

www.nytimes.com/2016/06/24/business/media/led-zeppelin-did-not-steal-stairway-to-heaven-jury-says.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0

"LOS ANGELES — Led Zeppelin did not steal the opening riff of its classic rock anthem “Stairway to Heaven,” a federal jury ruled here
on Thursday, giving the band a victory in a copyright case in which millions of dollars were at stake.

The case pitted an obscure song from the margins of rock history against one of the canonical hits of the genre. The suit was filed two
years ago by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the songs of Randy Wolfe, a member of the band Spirit. It contends that
the Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant had lifted substantial portions of the Spirit song “Taurus,” from 1968,
for the beginning of “Stairway to Heaven,” which was released in 1971 and, by some estimates, has earned more than $500 million.

Mr. Wolfe died in 1997 and complained of the similarity in interviews but never brought a suit. The case was filed shortly after
a Supreme Court ruling allowed copyright infringement cases to go forward even after long delays.


Lawyers for Mr. Skidmore presented evidence showing that the bands crossed paths while touring early in their careers, as well as
testimony from music experts saying that both songs shared a similar chord progression and, most distinctively, a descending bass line
in a chromatic scale.

Mr. Plant and Mr. Page both testified that “Stairway to Heaven” had been composed independently, and that while both bands had played
on the same bill a handful of times, they did not recall ever seeing Spirit perform and had no familiarity with “Taurus” until the lawsuit was brought.

“I didn’t remember it then, and I don’t remember it now,” Mr. Plant said.

The jury found that, although Mr. Page and Mr. Plant had access to “Taurus” before the release of “Stairway to Heaven,” the two songs’
original elements did not contain enough similarities. Before reaching the verdict on Thursday, the jury asked to listen to audio
recordings of the introductions to both songs twice.


“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,” Mr. Plant and Mr. Page said in a statement on Thursday.

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Francis Malofiy, said an appeal was being considered.

The statute of limitations for past copyright infringement is three years. The two sides presented widely different estimates of Led Zeppelin’s
earnings from 2011 to 2014, when the case was filed.

Experts for the plaintiff pointed to a $60 million music publishing deal that Mr. Page and Mr. Plant signed with Warner Music and suggested
that a large portion of that could be attributed to “Stairway.” But later in the trial, an accountant called by Led Zeppelin’s side
put the amounts at $615,000 for Mr. Page and $532,000 for Mr. Plant.

The trial was the second major case in a year to involve copyright issues and the music industry, after Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams
were ordered to pay $5.3 million to the family of Marvin Gaye over their 2013 hit “Blurred Lines.” That case, which has been appealed,
has led to a wide debate in the music world over the limits of copyright protection, and whether the musical elements of homage —
a song’s atmospherics, rhythms and overall “feel” — can cross the line into infringement."

Noah Gilbert reported from Los Angeles and Ben Sisario from Anaheim.