Led Zeppelin Did Not Lift 'Stairway to Heaven' Riff: Court Ruling

LOS ANGELES, CA — A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Led Zeppelin did not lift the intro of the band's signature song "Stairway to Heaven" from an obscure tune by the defunct Los Angeles group Spirit.

The ruling, by an 11-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, affirmed a June 2016 decision by a Los Angeles jury that rejected the copyright lawsuit after finding that "Stairway to Heaven" composers Jimmy Page and Robert Plant did not steal elements of Spirit's 1968 instrumental "Taurus," which was penned by Spirit's Randy Wolfe, known as Randy California.

The jury four years ago declined to award any damages, ending — for the moment — a six-day legal battle in downtown Los Angeles that included a courtroom reunion, of sorts, of Led Zeppelin surviving members Page, Plant and John Paul Jones.

A three-judge 9th Circuit panel later threw out the verdict on the grounds the trial judge gave faulty jury instructions, leading to a rehearing before a full panel of judges in San Francisco.

"It is undisputed that Spirit and Led Zeppelin crossed paths in the late 1960s and the early 1970s," according to the new 72-page ruling. "The bands performed at the same venue at least three times between 1968 and 1970. Led Zeppelin also performed a cover of a Spirit song, 'Fresh Garbage.' But there is no direct evidence that the two bands toured together, or that Led Zeppelin band members heard Spirit perform 'Taurus."'

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--City News Service