The music industry is very cutthroat, and it takes a tight crew of artists and managers to ensure

long-term success. Regardless of fame and financial fortune in the music industry the law still has an
essential role to play in copyright cases of song infringement. Led Zeppelin is well-known in the music
industry and the infringement world, but they are best known for a song they composed called ‘Stairway
to Heaven’ (Eli, 2016). There is only one little problem, a 45 second opening to the famous song was
allegedly stolen from an artist named Randy Wolfe from the group Spirit (Eli, 2016). Copyright
infringement is a hot topic recently due to declining sales in the music business. There are so many
different songs, and lyrics that have been developed by artists over the years, but the cords on a guitar
have virtually remained the same. The ability to definitively prove that a chord progression was in fact
stolen from another individual or group is not a guarantee, but many cases are won in court battles.

The battle between who first wrote the opening guitar sequence of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ first
has a fascinating backstory that all paints a vivid picture of copyright infringement. In 1968, the group
Spirit with lead guitarist Randy Wolfe debuted their debut album, and on that record, they had a song
called ‘Taurus’ in which the lawsuit has been brought up against Led Zeppelin. In all court cases,
evidence of all types are crucial in the process, and there is sufficient evidence in the case to say that
Led Zeppelin infringed upon the song title ‘Taurus.' Led Zeppelin toured with Spirit in 1969, one year
after they wrote ‘Taurus,' and Zeppelin began recording ‘Stairway to Heaven’ in 1970. The facts above
assist in proving that Zeppelin heard the entire song more than once, therefore giving them access
before they even wrote their song (Eli, 2016). Copyright experts have a saying that is if a song sound,
“substantially similar” then there is sufficient evidence to prove the infringement case (Eli, 2016). In
April of 2016, Judge R. Gary Klausner of the United States District Court affirmed as much, denying Led
Zeppelin’s request for summary judgement, saying: “While it is true that a descending chromatic four-
chord progression is a common convention that abounds in the music industry, the similarities her
transcend the core structure.” (Eli, 2016). The jurors ultimately returned a verdict that ruled in favor of
Led Zeppelin, and that is the correct call in this case. Another factor that played an obvious role in the
case was that this was not Zeppelin’s first rodeo at the infringement game. The case was moved forward
by Randy Wolfe’s Trust as he died in 1997 and because of this reason, it seems very sketchy that the
artist did not attempt this in the past 45 years (Eli, 2016). The Trust’s lawsuit mentioned several other
songs in which Zeppelin was accused of copyright, and they included, “The Lemon Song,” “Babe I’m
Gonna Leave You,” “Whole Lotta Love,” and “Dazed and Confused” (Eli, 2016). The increase in copyright
infringements had risen considerably since after in 2015 when a current artist was found guilty of
infringement of a Marvin Gaye song (Eli, 2016). The case proves that while songs may be similar, that
does not provide substantial evidence that the aspects of the entire song including the musical
composition, the instrumentation and the final recording are all subject to further analysis to prove a
copyright infringement claim (Eli, 2016).

References

Eli, L. G. (2016, September 8). Led Zeppelin Prevails in Copyright Infringement Case: Now on
Appeal in Ninth Circuit. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from https://www.natlawreview.com/article/led-
zeppelin-prevails-copyright-infringement-case-now-appeal-ninth-circuit