A hearing has been set in the lawsuit against famous rock band Led Zeppelin over allegations they stole the song “Stairway to Heaven”. The lawsuit alleges Led Zeppelin stole the song from Randy Craig Wolfe, a founding member of the late 1960s instrumental band, Spirit. The founding members of Spirit once claimed Led Zeppelin front man Jimmy Page had a strong interest in the song “Taurus”, and ripped the song off to create the famous “Stairway to Heaven”.
A lawyer for Spirit filed the lawsuit last year in Philadelphia at the behest of Wolfe’s estate. According to the lawsuit, Led Zeppelin opened for the band when they first started gaining fame. The lawyer for Spirit also alleges this is not the first time Led Zeppelin has stolen songs, such as “Whole Lotta Love” and “The Lemon Song”.
Led Zeppelin has made millions of dollars from album sales, digital downloads, radio, television and marketing from “Stairway to Heaven”. Even though the Wolfe estate resides in England, a U.S. District Court Judge refused to dismiss the lawsuit.
Philadelphia Magazine reported last year this is not the first time the lawyer representing the Wolfe estate has filed an unusual copyright lawsuit. According to the magazine, the same lawyer sued Usher. Led Zeppelin denies all charges and a court hearing has been set for August 18th.
Is Led Zeppelin Guilty Of Copyright Infringement?
Copyright law covers intellectual property, which includes musical works. Copyright infringement occurs when another party copies the work, makes spin-offs of the original, performs the stolen work in public or performs the stolen material. It will be up to a Los Angeles court to decide whether the iconic rock band is guilty of stealing one of its most famous songs.
However, this is not the first time Led Zeppelin has been sued for copyright infringement. In 2010, musician Jake Holmes sued the band over allegations it stole the song “Dazed and Confused”.
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