Dave J Hogan/Getty ImagesAn appeal has been filed in the copyright-infringement lawsuit involving Led Zeppelin‘s “Stairway to Heaven” one month after a Los Angeles jury ruled that the band’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page did not steal the opening of their classic song from the 1968 Spirit tune “Taurus.”
The Wrap reports that Michael Skidmore, who initiated the suit and oversees the trust of late Spirit frontman Randy Wolfe — a.k.a. Randy California — filed a notice of appeal on Saturday. During a six-week trial held last month, Skidmore’s attorney argued that the opening riff of “Stairway to Heaven” was copied from “Taurus,” an instrumental written by Wolfe, but the jury ruled that the songs weren’t similar enough to constitute plagiarism.
Plant, Page and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones all took the stand during the initial trial, and testified that they weren’t familiar with “Taurus.” Their attorneys also argued that aspects of “Stairway to Heaven” that are similar to “Taurus” appear in many compositions that pre-date both tunes.
In conjunction with the verdict, the jury also ruled that Wolfe’s trust is the rightful owner of “Taurus,” and found that Led Zeppelin’s members did have access to the Spirit song before before “Stairway to Heaven” was written.
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
