Did Led Zeppelin Steal The Opening Notes To Stairway To Heaven.....?

2»

Comments

  • Kat
    Kat Posts: 4,973
    Came across this update.

    'Stairway to Heaven’ trial jury mulling verdict after impassioned closing arguments
    Plaintiffs are seeking millions in damages from Led Zeppelin
    by Will Robinson • @Will_Robinson_
    Posted June 22 2016 — 4:47 PM EDT

    Jury deliberations have begun in the “Stairway to Heaven” copyright infringement trial after both sides made their closing arguments in a Los Angeles federal courtroom Wednesday.

    Led Zeppelin is accused of lifting parts of the iconic rock song’s introduction from the song “Taurus” by a band called Spirit. After six days of trial, the jury is expected to deliver a verdict by Thursday.

    more at: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/06/22/stairway-heaven-trial-closing-arguments
    Falling down,...not staying down
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,775
    edited June 2016
    :worried: Not looking too good if Page was caught in a lie while under oath, as the article says.
    Where do professional musicians stand on this issue btw???
    Post edited by PJ_Soul on
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • pjsteelerfan
    pjsteelerfan Maryland Posts: 9,905
    jury did not think so

    cnbc.com/2016/06/23/jury-finds-led-zeppelin-did-not-steal-intro-to-stairway-to-heaven.html
    ...got a mind full of questions and a teacher in my soul...
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,775
    Huh. I actually don't agree with the jury's verdict. I love LZ, but I do believe that they stole that riff. But hey, congrats LZ, all that money bought you some mighty fine lawyers!
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • Kat
    Kat Posts: 4,973
    More info.
    http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/led-zeppelin-prevail-in-stairway-to-heaven-lawsuit-20160623?page=2
    Falling down,...not staying down
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,775
    Lol, I didn't know that the plaintiff's lawyer was a moron.
    I also didn't realize that the jury wasn't even allowed to hear the actual songs in question!
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • Ledbetterman10
    Ledbetterman10 Posts: 17,005
    PJ_Soul said:

    Lol, I didn't know that the plaintiff's lawyer was a moron.
    I also didn't realize that the jury wasn't even allowed to hear the actual songs in question!

    Which might be the single strangest thing I've ever heard.

    Well chalk up Stairway To Heaven as a plagiarism suit win for Zep!

    And count Whole Lotta Love, Dazed And Confused, When The Levee Breaks, Boogie With Stu, The Lemon Song, and Bring It On Home as plagiarism suit losses for Zep.

    And Black Mountain Slide, White Summer, and In My Time Of Dying as uncontestable because when you pass off a traditional song as your own, there's no one to sue you!

    Frankly, the Stairway riff is a rip...but compared to Dazed and Confused and The Lemon Song, it's not all that bad. THOSE are just shameful.
    2000: Camden 1, 2003: Philly, State College, Camden 1, MSG 2, Hershey, 2004: Reading, 2005: Philly, 2006: Camden 1, 2, East Rutherford 1, 2007: Lollapalooza, 2008: Camden 1, Washington D.C., MSG 1, 2, 2009: Philly 1, 2, 3, 4, 2010: Bristol, MSG 2, 2011: PJ20 1, 2, 2012: Made In America, 2013: Brooklyn 2, Philly 2, 2014: Denver, 2015: Global Citizen Festival, 2016: Philly 2, Fenway 1, 2018: Fenway 1, 2, 2021: Sea. Hear. Now. 2022: Camden, 2024: Philly 2, 2025: Pittsburgh 1

    Pearl Jam bootlegs:
    http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,775
    edited June 2016
    Ledbetterman10 said:

    PJ_Soul said:

    Lol, I didn't know that the plaintiff's lawyer was a moron.
    I also didn't realize that the jury wasn't even allowed to hear the actual songs in question!

    Which might be the single strangest thing I've ever heard.

    Well chalk up Stairway To Heaven as a plagiarism suit win for Zep!

    And count Whole Lotta Love, Dazed And Confused, When The Levee Breaks, Boogie With Stu, The Lemon Song, and Bring It On Home as plagiarism suit losses for Zep.

    And Black Mountain Slide, White Summer, and In My Time Of Dying as uncontestable because when you pass off a traditional song as your own, there's no one to sue you!

    Frankly, the Stairway riff is a rip...but compared to Dazed and Confused and The Lemon Song, it's not all that bad. THOSE are just shameful.
    Totally true. Especially Lemon Song. You're right, for Led Zeppelin, the theft of the Stairway to Heaven riff is child's play, lol.
    Post edited by PJ_Soul on
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • Kat
    Kat Posts: 4,973
    sigh. :)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDo4CA13LbY
    Falling down,...not staying down
  • bluegrace
    bluegrace Posts: 2,357
    I don't really care if they stole it to be honest, music history is full of steals and loans.
    Kool Kat Club 1992, Moderna museet 1992, Globen 2012, Friends arena 2014
  • PJ_ROCKS
    PJ_ROCKS THE 406 Posts: 6,736
    awsome news, to one of the best songs ever

    1995 San Francisco
              San Jose

              San Diego 2 shows 

           
    2003 Missoula

    2005 Missoula

    2006 Denver 2 shows with Tom Petty 

             Gorge 2 shows

    2009 Utah

              LA1

              LA2

    2012 Missoula : Meet and Greet : "Instant Classic show"

    2013 Portland

             Spokane


    2018 Missoula



  • PJ_ROCKS
    PJ_ROCKS THE 406 Posts: 6,736
    this calls for, spinning that album, spin spin

    1995 San Francisco
              San Jose

              San Diego 2 shows 

           
    2003 Missoula

    2005 Missoula

    2006 Denver 2 shows with Tom Petty 

             Gorge 2 shows

    2009 Utah

              LA1

              LA2

    2012 Missoula : Meet and Greet : "Instant Classic show"

    2013 Portland

             Spokane


    2018 Missoula



  • bluegrace
    bluegrace Posts: 2,357
    PJ_ROCKS said:

    this calls for, spinning that album, spin spin

    Haha, I just ordered it, vinyl of course
    Kool Kat Club 1992, Moderna museet 1992, Globen 2012, Friends arena 2014
  • PJ_Soul
    PJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 50,775
    bluegrace said:

    I don't really care if they stole it to be honest, music history is full of steals and loans.

    I don't care either.... just because it's Led Zeppelin, lol.
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • DewieCox
    DewieCox Posts: 11,432
    Right decision. Similar for 2 seconds and not nearly exactly alike.

    Zeppelin has made more money, sold more albums and sparked more interest in the artists they borrowed from or credited inaccurately.
  • g under p
    g under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,237
    DewieCox said:

    Right decision. Similar for 2 seconds and not nearly exactly alike.

    Zeppelin has made more money, sold more albums and sparked more interest in the artists they borrowed from or credited inaccurately.

    So what, for those reasons it doesn't make it right for ANY band to borrow without permission or be credited inaccurately.

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • DewieCox
    DewieCox Posts: 11,432
    Doesn't make it right, but it does kinda make it ok. I'd bet the people cashing the checks feel pretty good about it.

    Zep has served their sentence and some of the people they've paid out to, both those that were credited and those those that came after them to get credit, were simply the first to copyright music and lyrics that were part of a long blues tradition. There are also several songs that continuously get mentioned that Zep never claimed as their own.

    I just don't think there was some dark master plan to steal all this music and take over the world.

Categories