Copyright infringement suit against Led Zeppelin over ?Stairway to Heaven?
 

I came across this article where someone was suing Led Zeppelin complaining to rip off Stairway to Heaven. At first I thought "what bullshit". But when I listen to the song.... Oh wow. Then factor in that Led Zeppelin used to open for this band in 1968.....

Well, I for one am glad they stole it.

Only 40 years too late

Yeah I heard about this thirty years ago. LOL It was always one of the rock 'n roll legend stories but it's true, as you can hear for yourself.

Spirit - or its' family members more likely - must be hurting for money.

It has some of the chords of stairway, Led Zeppelin probably adapted it and made something out of it. :2 cents:

Their entire fist album is mostly songs they ripped from other people. Over the years there have been a number of suits and now many of their songs have additional credits on them.

Do you know the Rolling Stones song that Verve allegedly ripped off for Bittersweet Symphony?

Most people think it's this one....



But it's not. Well, not really. They actually took from an orchestral version of the song which was produced by Andrew Oldham, the original manager/producer of the Stones. He released it as part of a side project which he called The Andrew Oldham Orchestra on which members of the Stones served as session musicians for many of the songs. Here it is. It's actually quite similar to Bittersweet.

pretty blatant ripoff heh

Led Zeppelin, the greatest cover band of all time:

The whole rock n' roll thing is a sham so ...

I think it's odd for them to bring a lawsuit so many years after the fact. While I hear the similarities, I am also guessing all of them were young and dumb and doing drugs and there was a lot of copying.

:Oh crap

Isn't that Verve's only hit? Says something, doesn't it?

Isnt it widely known and accepted at this point that a lot of Led Zeppelin stuff was ripped and changed from elsewhere?

Definitely influence there but using a few chords doesn't make it a ripoff. Many artists influence one another, especially if they were eon the road together....

Right on, they actually made something out of it :2 cents::thumbsup

7 Songs That Led Zeppelin Ripped Off : Exclusives : Music Times

Is Led Zeppelin Guilty Of Musical Plagiarism? | VH1 Music News

It is not that easy to prove copyright infringement in music, as taking influence is allowed. Also, it is not that easy to prove in the first place that some pling, plong, pling, plong with the guitar forms some unique piece of art, and no one else can use pling, plong, pling, plong. The copyright infringement has to be quite obvious to have some case to begin with and usually be enough substantial (for example have enough length).

Tell that to pharrell and robin thicke :1orglaugh

That's exactly what I was thinking. LOL.

Lawsuit is not for money, Randy California died 15 years ago saving his son from drowning. He never gave a shit about the rip. His estate just wants a Randy California writing credit on a led zep re-issue that is coming out. That what it looks like to me anyway.

WOW lol

so did Oldham and the Stones sue Verve?

this one isn't as blatant, but definitely possible/probable Led Zeppelin influenced by this song.
I forget but the specifics about the law regarding song plagiarism but there's a legal standard where a certain number of bars of music has to be identical to be declared plagiarism.

Looks like it was actually a guy called Allen Klein who initiated the lawsuit but Oldham and the Stones get 100% of the royalties. Don't get me wrong, I like the Stones, but what a bunch of dicks. 50/50 should have been enough. It's not like they were hurting for cash or anything. :1orglaugh

Bitter Sweet Symphony - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Song credits[edit]

Although the song's lyrics were written by Verve vocalist Richard Ashcroft, its distinctive passage for strings was sampled from the 1965 Andrew Oldham Orchestra symphonic recording of "The Last Time", arranged & written by David Whitaker, inspired by the 1965 Rolling Stones' song of the same title.[8][9]

Originally, The Verve had negotiated a licence to use a five-note sample from the Oldham recording, but former Stones manager Allen Klein (who owned the copyrights to the band?s pre-1970 songs) claimed that The Verve broke the agreement and used a larger portion.[10][11] Despite its original lyrics and string intro (by Wil Malone & Ashcroft), the music of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was sampled from the Oldham track, which led to a lawsuit with ABKCO Records, Klein's holding company, and eventually settled out of court. The Verve relinquished all of their royalties to Klein, owner of ABKCO Records, whilst songwriting credits were changed to Jagger/Richards/Ashcroft.[12]

The Verve bassist Simon Jones said, "We were told it was going to be a 50/50 split, and then they saw how well the record was doing. They rung up and said we want 100 percent or take it out of the shops, you don't have much choice."[13] After losing the composer credits to the song, Ashcroft commented, "This is the best song Jagger and Richards have written in 20 years",[14] noting it was their biggest UK hit since "Brown Sugar".[13] On Ashcroft's return to touring, the song traditionally ended the set list. Ashcroft also reworked the single for VH2 Live for the music channel VH1, stripping the song of its strings. Ashcroft is quoted as saying during the show: "Despite all the legal angles and the bullshit, strip down to the chords and the lyrics and the melody and you realise there is such a good song there."[15]

In a Cash for Questions interview with Q magazine published in January 1999, Keith Richards was asked if he thought it was harsh taking all The Verve's royalties from "Bitter Sweet Symphony". He replied, "I'm out of whack here, this is serious lawyer shit. If The Verve can write a better song, they can keep the money."

In an interview with Uncut Magazine, Oldham stated, "As for Richard Ashcroft, well, I don't know how an artist can be severely damaged by that experience. Songwriters have learned to call songs their children, and he thinks he wrote something. He didn't. I hope he's got over it. It takes a while."[16]