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June 18, 2016 editorial: comments

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Topic June 18, 2016 editorial: comments

Stairway to Plagiarism?

If you were to make a list of iconic bands from the “classic rock” era, Led Zeppelin would certainly be near the top. You can use many words to describe their music including “powerful,” “memorable,” “heavy” and “psychedelic.” Unfortunately, many will allege that another adjective should accompany some of their songs: “stolen.”

The subject of the band’s supposed penchant for “borrowing” others’ musical ideas has come to the fore once again, as the trial has started in the lawsuit originally filed in 2014 by the estate of Randy California from the band Spirit. The plaintiffs allege that the Zepsters pilfered a section of their song “Taurus,” for the intro “Stairway to Heaven.”

This is not the first time Page, Plant and company have had to deal with copyright infringement charges. Back in “the day” (which in this case refers to 1972), the publishing company associated with Chess Records sued Led Zeppelin for infringing on the copyrights of blues greats Willie Dixon and Howlin’ Wolf in the songs “Bring it on Home” and “The Lemon Song,” respectively. The case was settled out court, so there was never any verdict reached.

You can find others who will argue that the band is guilty of poaching songs on a number of other occasions, too. This article from the Music Times, lists the Dixon and Howlin’ Wolf songs, along with a number of others in which infringement, which you could also refer to as “larceny by composition,” is alleged. 

The surviving members of Led Zeppelin were in court this week, and Page and John Paul Jones were both on the stand, testifying on their own behalf. If you’ve heard the Spirit song “Taurus,” you’ll understand why this came to trial. Listen at around 45 seconds in, for the passage in question.

I don’t pretend to understand the legal minutiae when it comes to defining copyright infringement, but from hearing that section of “Taurus,” you have to wonder what Page and Plant were thinking when writing the "Stairway" intro. It’s true that it’s a pretty common chord progression, but the similarities are pretty striking.

Then again, if you’ve ever written a song or other piece of music and then later realized that it sounded just like something you’d heard before, you know that it’s certainly possible to subconsciously copy something and think it’s your own, without having any larcenous intent. However, considering Led Zeppelin’s less-than-spotless history in this area (to put it charitably), it does make one wonder. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this trial. 

Take a listen to “Taurus” and see what you think (here’s a link to it on YouTube).

 

[ Post last edited on 06/18/2016 at 14:46:27 ]

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11
I don't believe this is a frivolous lawsuit, whether Led Zep made it big or not . . . copying ones work and not giving credit where credit is do is wrong. I think that if it was a tune or riff you had written you would not feel this way. It all comes down to giving credit. A few years back we went through something simular with some sampling from differet tunes. Same type of lawsuits, and again the solution was to give credit was given where crit is due. I think all will agree that there are a finite amount of notes and chords and theirs bound to be simalarites but it will work if credit is made where due.:8)
12
As far as I understand American copyright law, the Spirit guitar passage in the song Tarus is just a motif, which cannot be copyrighted. A copyright (PA or SR) can only be obtained for the combination of lyric and melody together. Copyrights do not cover motifs, riffs, beats, grooves, feelings, concepts, etc... Our copyright act of 1972 actually encourages artists to do covers of other copyrighted material which includes borrowing or sampling of sections, for the reason that the originator will be credited and royalties will be paid via ASCAP or BMI to that originator, thus it is good for capitalism. Also see the definition and terms of a Mechanical License, and/or Compulsory Mechanical License.

A good example of this would be the Beach Boys song, Surfing USA which is basically Chuck Berry's song, Sweet Little Sixteen, whom they credited on the record and most likely paid royalties. Although the lyrics are different, the melody against the chords, cadence, etc... are identical. Because the lyrics are different in this case, I think the Beach Boys could have probably gotten away without crediting (or paying) Mr. Berry.

According to the copyright laws, the recent loss in court pertaining to the song White Lines by Alan Thick's kid was a miscarriage of justice IMHO because Thick was using a GROOVE which is not protected, thus not copyrightable.

[ Post last edited on 06/18/2016 at 19:57:41 ]

13
I'm sure we've all heard Let It Grow by Clapton. Listen just after 2 mins in. Surely he should also join this case? Being a wee bit lazy, I've not checked when this track first appeared in relation to Taurus and Stairway.
14
Page didn't even listen to that song until 2014, if you look at his deposition. Also since those minute progressive chords/arpeggios are not copyrighted, and can be heard in tons of songs, that alone should get them off the hook. Sure they start out with similar descending notes, but then so do a lot of other songs. You can read Jimmy's deposition on line, but to go even further Page wrote this song with a lot more than just those few notes that sound the same, and if that is the case, then there would be a whole lot of plagiarism going on especially in music today! Take a rap song...they all sound similar to me - so why aren't they crying the blues and suing each other? Because Led Zeppelin sold millions of albums, that is why. Be that isn't the point here, the point is if Jimmy Page said, Oh, I like the way those notes sound, so I will write a whole 7 minute song based off a descending line that most kids learn when they pick up the guitar...Not! Also Randy said a 1991 interview, “If they wanted to use [‘Taurus’], that’s fine… I’ll let them have the beginning of ‘Taurus’ for their song without a lawsuit.”....besides Page and company may have been on a bill with that Spirit band, but did they actually sit around to listen to the gig, when there are 10 other bands playing? They were at 3 festivals at the same time...also it was said they (Spirit) didn't even play that Taurus song live?!?
Stairway to heaven used maybe what can be perceived as similar sounding notes, but that is it, end of story. Randy wrote a song, Page wrote a song, some notes sounded familiar and the same, like most music there can be similarities..I just hope the judge can see this, and drop the case and move on....I am sure LZ would like that too.
Johnne in Seattle