The plagiarism case surrounding "Stairway To Heaven" was reopened last month
Members of Korn, Tool, Judas Priest, Linkin Park , and others have signed a petition in support of Led Zeppelin. The years-long case of plagiarism of a riff from "Stairway To Heaven" was reopened last month .
A US court has reopened an alleged plagiarism case concerning the beginning of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." The accusation claims the song was created based on "Taurus," a song by guitarist Randy Wolf of the band Spirit .
The defendants in the lawsuit are the band itself, vocalist Robert Plant , and guitarist Jimmy Page .
In 2014, the band argued that the similar passage between the songs was limited to "a descending chromatic scale of tones" popular in the music world. This, according to them, was the reason why copyright protection did not apply.
A unanimous jury decision acquitted the band at the time. Now, an appeals court has reopened the case because of "errors made in the first instance.".
According to the court, the jury did not have access to a sound recording of the song because it was protected by copyright law.
In addition to the bands already mentioned, the list of writers, artists, and producers includes Nile Rodgers, Sean Lennon, Jason Mraz, Max Martin, The-Dream , as well as Primus, Tears For Fears, Heart, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer, and others.
The document argues that if common musical elements – such as strings and arpeggios used in “Stairway To Heaven” and “Taurus” – were to become protected by copyright law, this would “create significant confusion” and “risk stifling creativity and causing excessive and unwarranted litigation.”.
It also argues that the court reopening the case, listening to "Taurus" instead of reading the score, "would be extremely damaging" and "would not lend credibility in any realistic way.".
READ ALSO: John Paul Jones, of Led Zeppelin, announces new band