Led Zeppelin Wins

[Marsbar]

Led Zeppelin wins major copyright battle for 'Stairway to Heaven'

The legendary rock band Led Zeppelin won a major copyright battle on Monday over claims that parts of their signature song "Stairway to Heaven" were stolen.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict that found that "Stairway to Heaven" did not infringe on the 1968 song "Taurus" by the rock band Spirit. In doing so, the court overturned a controversial precedent the 9th Circuit has used in copyright cases.

The original lawsuit filed in 2014 claimed that the guitar introduction to "Stairway to Heaven" -- yes, the one you're singing in your head -- infringed on the copyright of the instrumental of "Taurus."


Randy Wolfe, a guitarist for Spirit and writer of "Taurus," passed away in 1997 and had no hand in the lawsuit. The original lawsuit was filed by journalist Michael Skidmore on behalf of the Randy Craige Wolfe Trust. Skidmore became a co-trustee in 2006.

A jury ruled against Skidmore in 2016, but the case was revived in 2018 by a three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit, which ordered a new trial. The panel ruled that trial Judge Gary Klausner gave the jury incorrect instructions. Led Zeppelin appealed that decision and asked for a larger panel of judges to rehear the case. That request was granted and a panel of 11 judges heard the appeal in September 2019.

The ruling is not only a win for Led Zeppelin but will likely benefit the music industry.
The music industry has seen a number of copyright infringement cases over the years, and the controversial inverse ratio rule has established a lower burden of proof for copyright infringement.

In 2015, Pharrell and Robin Thicke were famously ordered to pay $5 million for copyright infringement and damages after jurors found that their song "Blurred Lines" infringed Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up."

In the original opinion laid out by the 9th Circuit, the court invoked the inverse ratio rule but later removed all mention of it in the court's amended opinion.
With the court's decision to overturn the inverse ratio rule, it could cease being used in copyright infringement cases.