Led Zeppelin cleared of Stairway to Heaven plagiarism
Led Zeppelin have been cleared of stealing the iconic opening chords of Stairway to Heaven - perhaps one of the most recognisable riffs of all time.
The band was accused of plagiarising a 1967 song called Taurus from US band Spirit after playing on the same bill at a club in Birmingham in 1970, a year before Stairway to Heaven was released.
The lawsuit was filed by Michael Skidmore, the trustee of Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe – known as Randy California – who died in 1997.
However, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant denied having stolen the chords, with Page saying that he owned five Spirit albums but that he'd never watched the band play live, and had never heard Taurus until recently.
Plant, meanwhile, said he had no memory of having heard Spirit live as he'd been involved in a car crash later that night.
And musicologists were wheeled into court to suggest that the sequence of notes had 'been around forever' - even appearing in Chim Chim Cher-ee from the Disney film Mary Poppins, they said.
The same descending chromatic chord progression was also found in he opening of Michelle by The Beatles, Johnny Mathis's 1960 hit My Funny Valentine and the 1967 song Music To Watch Girls By, said New York University music professor Lawrence Ferrara.
And following a week-long trial, a court in Los Angeles has now agreed.
"We are grateful for the jury's conscientious service and pleased that it has ruled in our favour, putting to rest questions about the origins of Stairway To Heaven and confirming what we have known for 45 years," say Plant and Page in a statement.
"We appreciate our fans' support and look forward to putting this legal matter behind us."
The court was told that Stairway To Heaven had brought in more than $500 million over the years - although damages would have only related to profits over the last three years and into the future.
Led Zeppelin has already been forced to alter the credits on songs such as Babe I'm Gonna Leave You and Whole Lotta Love, and been forced to hand over a portion of royalties.
