Jury Decides That Led Zeppelin Did NOT Rip Off Spirit for “Stairway to Heaven”

Led Zeppelin may have, er, appropriated some works and passed them off as their own (here are ten examples along with six cases where they were forced to settle), but Spirit’s “Taurus” is not one of them. A jury has ruled that “Stairway to Heaven” does not infringe upon copyright or otherwise plagiarize Spirit. It took them less than a day to come to that conclusion.

While there may be similarities and while the songs use similar building blocks, “Stairway” is not a ripoff of “Taurus.”

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant say:  “We are grateful for the jury’s conscientious service and pleased that it has ruled in our favor, putting to rest questions about the origins of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and confirming what we have known for 45 years. We appreciate our fans’ support, and look forward to putting this legal matter behind us.”

And their label, Warner Music Group, says this: “At Warner Music Group, supporting our artists and protecting their creative freedom is paramount. We are pleased that the jury found in favor of Led Zeppelin, re-affirming the true origins of ‘Stairway to Heaven’. Led Zeppelin is one of the greatest bands in history, and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant are peerless songwriters who created many of rock’s most influential and enduring songs.”

Everyone move on. Nothing to see here anymore.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter and TheTMAC.com)