Led Zeppelin Sued by Spirit Bassist

[gcczep]

Musical Kinko's...

If memory serves me correctly, that title was thrown on him already during his time with the Yardbirds, wasn't it? (thus the magpie / bird connection?) and that title/accusation just continued to linger during and after his time in Zeppelin

Or am I wrong about that?

Yes, I believe it was during his short time with The Yardbirds. I agree with Khor1225 that it is similar but in an inverted way though it is a few chords but not all the way through. I've checked out the opinions about it and some poster wrote that Taurus is a copy of "Summer Rain" by Johnny Rivers which came out at the same time. Maybe Spirit took the same opening notes from there too. Both came out in 1968. Or Page "borrowed" from both. Who knows?

Every musician draws inspiration from somewhere or someone but don't give credit where it's due BUT if they become globally famous that's when the microscope becomes more magnified.

 

[Lynch]

Like I said in my first post, it wouldn't surprise me if there is some sort of influence from that song to Stairway, there are some similarities, but nothing I would call outright plagiarism ... especially after 40 years. Why did it take this guy so long to bring up a lawsuit on this one? It's not like Stairway was some 'deep cut' that few people knew about.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Someone sued Men At Work for the flute part of Down Under 25-30 years after-the-fact, and didn't they win?

Might have been more obvious than this case, I'm not sure.

 

[Musikwala]

It sounds similar but pursuing this especially after 40 years or something is a bit funny. Stairway is already an iconic epic across several generations!

 

[gcczep]

Let Stairway Grow

From Eric Clapton:

"One of the songs I had started was coming along quite well, and I was very proud of my inventiveness in the verse. This was "Let It Grow," and it was several years before I realized that I had totally ripped off "Stairway To Heaven; the famous Zeppelin anthem, a cruel justice as how I'd always been such a severe critic of theirs."

 

[Powerage]

The Oasis song The Masterplan sounds much more like the Spirit track IMO...

 

[gcczep]

Bad lawyer! Bad...

Lawyer suing Led Zeppelin heavily criticised by judge
Francis Malofiy, the lawyer who is suing Led Zeppelin over their authorship of Stairway To Heaven, has been called 'flagrantly unprofessional' by a judge in another songwriting case involving Usher

By James Lachno
2:15PM BST 23 May 2014

The lawyer who is planning to sue Led Zeppelin over Stairway to Heaven has been severely reprimanded by a judge in the US.

Francis Malofiy, who is claiming on behalf of late rock musician Randy California that Led Zeppelin should share writing credits for one of their signature songs, has been criticised for acting "in a flagrantly unprofessional and offensive manner" during another songwriting court case involving US singer Usher.

The copyright infringement case, which alleged that songwriter Dan Marino should have been given a writing credit on the Usher song Club Girl, was dismissed by federal Judge Paul Diamond earlier this week.

Judge Diamond went on to issue a memorandum attacking the conduct of Malofiy, who was representing Marino, during the trial.

"It is difficult to convey the poisonous atmosphere created by Malofiy's continual belligerence to opposing counsel," Diamond wrote. "Malofiy’s unprofessional behaviour throughout discovery was the antithesis of cooperation. When depositions finally took place, Malofiy did what he could to disrupt or obstruct them."

Malofiy was also heavily criticised for saying things such as "don't be a girl about this", "you're like a little kid with your little mouth" and, laughably, "you can't handle the truth" in depositions.

During the trial, the judge also struck from the record testimony that Malofiy allegedly obtained through deception and ordered the lawyer to pay increased court costs.

Earlier this week, Malofiy explained why he would be representing the interests of Randy California and Sixties rock band Spirit in a case against Led Zeppelin:

"The idea behind this is to make sure that Randy California is given a writing credit on Stairway to Heaven. It’s been a long time coming."

California's former bandmates Spirit claim Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven bears a striking resemblance to their own 1968 song Taurus. The two bands toured together in the late Sixties.

 

[Jake T]

I think both songs sound like a slowed down version of "Summer Rain" by Johnny Rivers. Songwriter James Hendricks should get credit for creating the lick that inspired both of them.

 

[Jet]

I saw an update about this on ABC World News today, and they said the judge would not dismiss the case, and it's going to trial.

 

[Soot and Stars]

I saw an update about this on ABC World News today, and they said the judge would not dismiss the case, and it's going to trial.

I saw that as well!