Founders of British rock band Led Zeppelin are to face a copyright infringement trial over the song ‘Stairway to Heaven’.
Singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page claim to have originally written the 1971 hit in a remote cottage in Wales.
However, the duo are to face trial in a US Court, after a Los Angeles district Judge found that there were “enough similarities” between their song and an instrumental by the band Spirit, to put the case before a jury.
Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe, has brought forward the copyright infringement action.
Mr Skidmore believes that Mr Wolfe, who played on the same bill as Led Zeppelin in the 1960s, should be given a writing credit on the track.
He claims that Led Zeppelin stole aspects of Spirit’s instrumental, ‘Taurus’, which they first heard while the duo toured together between 1968 and 1969 – long before ‘Stairway to Heaven’ would be released.
US district judge Gary Klausner said a jury could find “substantial” similarities between the first two minutes of the two songs.
“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,” Judge Klausner ruled.
“What remains is a subjective assessment of the ‘concept and feel’ of two works… a task no more suitable for a Judge than for a jury.”