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I love the way Robert talks, having heard/read quite a few the last 5-10 yrs., interviews. And he hardly seemed rattled

from the lawsuit debacle. However the description of what he and his band does, as if they were creating some

fantastic holographic universe of music and sound, well, each to their own. Robert remains a fantastic singer

despite anything. The ideas and obscure "ethnic" musics Robert wants to stir into his mix, I've said before, he needs

higher caliber musicians. And the piracy thing, YouTube, etc., if you're a musician 20 yrs old  now, and you became successful , getting a huge record company deal probably wasn't even thought about. Of course Robert is very rich and

there are plenty of much less successful artists from the past who are denied royalties, very unfair, you are talking

about musicians in poverty.

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http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/ozzy-osbourne-led-zep-trial-was-waste-of-f--king-time

Ozzy Osbourne: Led Zeppelin Trial Was 'Waste of F--king Time'

"That group is fucking phenomenal," Black Sabbath singer says. "Why would they rip anybody off?"
Ozzy Osbourne cannot believe that Led Zeppelin had to defend themselves in court last month, when a man representing the group Spirit alleged they'd ripped off that band's instrumental "Taurus" to write "Stairway to Heaven."

"It's fucking crazy, actually," the Black Sabbath singer tells Rolling Stone as part of an interview that will publish in full in the future. "That should have never gone to court. I heard the original thing, and there's just a slight similarity. It's like saying any fucking song with that kind of a guitar on it is a rip-off. It's not fair. There's only so many fucking notes on a guitar, and it wasn't that much like 'Stairway to Heaven.' I'm amazed it lasted so fucking long, you know?"

"You listen to 'All Right Now' by Free and you listen to Steve Miller's 'Rock'n Me,' and it's exactly the same riff and they haven't sued each other," he continues. "It's exactly the same."

After a weeklong trial, the jury ultimately sided with Led Zeppelin in the case, which dated back to a 2014 filing. The Black Sabbath singer can't believe it lasted as long as it did. "I've met John Bonham; I've met all of them," he says. "That group is fucking phenomenal. What do they need a fucking songwriter for? Why would they rip anybody off? It's just a waste of fucking time. I'm really surprised it went to court. It's fucking crazy.

"They don't deserve it," he continues. "It's like, do you honestly think they'll sit there and go, 'Oh, we'll steal this and change it a bit like this so it sells.' Fuck. Give me a break. The song that was played was kind of a bit similar but it was only the chord sequence."

Osbourne, a native of Birmingham, England, knew Led Zeppelin's members casually before they were famous, as some of them lived there in the late Sixties. "We were friendly with John Bonham and Robert Plant," he says. "Robert's a great singer. He's one of the greats. He was very influential on a lot of singers in his day. I haven't seen Robert for a long time. I hope he's all right."

Even after both bands made it onto the charts, they continued to hang out, with Bonham occasionally asking to sit in on Bill Ward's drums early on. Classic Rock reports that in 1975, Led Zeppelin joined Sabbath in the studio during their Sabotage sessions for a jam on Sabbath's "Supernaut."

When Rolling Stone asks Osbourne about the jam, he says he can still picture it. "Jimmy Page wasn't there, but John Paul Jones, Robert Plant and John Bonham were there," he says. "And we just had a jam. It was all right. It was just a jam."

It was just all right? "I just jammed out, you know?" Osbourne says. "I can't think back on it now, like, 'Whoa, we just jammed with Zeppelin.' It's just what we did. We were all stoned anyway."

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Jeff Beck on the lawsuit:

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7438982/jeff-beck-beck01-loud-hailer-stairway-to-heaven-lawsuit

Outside of his own busy schedule, Beck was also paying close attention to the Led Zeppelin "Stairway To Heaven" plagiarism case, partly as an interested musician, but just as much as a longtime friend and music mate of Jimmy Page. "I had to smirk because I knew that Jimmy and Robert would come out on top," Beck says. "Apparently you can't copyright a chord sequence. It has to have a lyric or some kind of a meaningful melody to be copyrighted. And it is a chord sequence which has been used loads of times, but not in such an iconic way. It clearly is the same chord sequence [as Spirit's 'Taurus'], but then we're all guilty of stealing a chord sequence and sticking some words on top of it. So I think it's a bit of bravado to try to bring it to court, but Jimmy came out ahead. So, lucky Old Jim!"

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from Jimmy Page today:

"A few weeks have past since the judgement of the Stairway to Heaven case in Los Angeles, with the jury reaching a unanimous decision in a remarkably short time. Throughout the lengthy journey to that verdict, and even more recently, I have received and been aware of the overwhelming wave of support, encouragement, and congratulations that has been deeply moving."

"I’d like to take this opportunity to personally thank all those who contributed such a positive energy to me."

Thank you
Jimmy Page

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10 hours ago, Ddladner said:

Jimmy, you are a gentleman, indeed.  Please know that on any given day, there is tremendous positive energy directed to you.  It is truly remarkable! ❤️

Thanks for posting, Sam! :) 

Awww this was sweet of Jimmy!!:wub: Very nicely put Ddladner!!  Our girl minds thinking alike!! :cheer:
Always sending the good vibes to my fave musician!!

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41 minutes ago, sixpense said:

It will go down like a Lead Zeppelin!

Absolutely!  I don't know how Malofiy can even pursue this. Even for a lawyer, he is such a money grubbing, attention seeking, ambulance chasing, scum bag!  Of course, he couldn't keep goin if he didn't have $ support behind him....

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15 hours ago, Walter said:

Absolutely!  I don't know how Malofiy can even pursue this. Even for a lawyer, he is such a money grubbing, attention seeking, ambulance chasing, scum bag!  Of course, he couldn't keep goin if he didn't have $ support behind him....

Who's the bigger scumbag, Malofiy or Skidmore?     At what point does Skidmore actually act like the trustee to the estate that he's supposed to be? 

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Wow, everybody involved on the plaintiff's side  are  p a i n f u l l y  annoying.

I can feel a rant coming on when it comes to everybody from that cockroach they
call a lawyer,  to the sisters who say this is for the kids.... and only the kids. 

I don't see this appeal having any legs though.  It's not going anywhere.  I'm just
turned off at how greedy Randy's family and friends can be.  His own son isn't 
even part of this.  That tells me all I need to know about those tied to his estate.

Damn vultures.
 

Edited by KellyGirl
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3 hours ago, ZepDomi said:

Who's the bigger scumbag, Malofiy or Skidmore?     At what point does Skidmore actually act like the trustee to the estate that he's supposed to be? 

That's what my last sentence was referring to.  He couldn't pursue this without $ backing.

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They need to give it up, and get some real music of their own instead of parasitically clinging to Zeppelin's talent for $. Skidmark needs to get a life. This stupid song Taurus isn't even worth a listen much less a lawsuit, Spirit needs to stop flattering themselves and delusionally thinking they are worth comparing to Led Zeppelin even for a second. Taurus is so unmemorable, these maggots must have alot of cash to keep suing Zep. They will keep losing.

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The picture posted before with Page with the dark sunglasses and hilarious comical smile on his face, with Plant and 

Jones, is the best way to see this appeal. I wouldn't even bother following this anymore, because it's not like there 

was any point in the trial where the plaintiffs were seriously gaining momentum. I'm sure that Jimmy, although

more serious than lighthearted, will have many belated laughs about this debacle with friends and family.

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Most of the stories I've read about this appeal include the line:

"The filing does not provide legal arguments for why the case should be reconsidered."

This is a little baffling to me. Without any legal arguments for reconsideration, wouldn't it just be dead on arrival? I mean what, does the filing say "we think this case should be reconsidered...just because"?

Maybe filings of this kind don't normally include legal arguments, the stories aren't real clear on that. Seems like an incredible long shot that this appeal would even be taken seriously, I can't imagine any judge allowing it to move forward.

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They were not allowed to play both songs, had to go by sheet music and a piano, he wants the jury to hear the songs. it could be bad if some jury members think it sounds the same.

Edited by #1fan
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On 7/30/2016 at 4:12 PM, #1fan said:

They were not allowed to play both songs, had to go by sheet music and a piano, he wants the jury to hear the songs. it could be bad if some jury members think it sounds the same.

Yeah but I highly doubt that's going to be enough to grant an appeal, because it would require basically retroactively changing the law to do so. If the sheet music was all that was copyrighted prior to 1972 then that's what they have to go on. Appeals are typically granted on the basis of either some kind of judicial error or malfeasance, or on the basis of new evidence coming to light. It'll be extremely hard for them to argue that a judge following the law represents judicial error or malfeasance.

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On 7/30/2016 at 5:12 PM, #1fan said:

They were not allowed to play both songs, had to go by sheet music and a piano, he wants the jury to hear the songs. it could be bad if some jury members think it sounds the same.

This is incorrect. Before deliberation, the jury asked to hear both songs, the known recorded final versions as they appear on the records, and immediately voted unanimously there was no infringement. The appeal will go nowhere.

Edited by Tea41
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http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/theres-a-songbird-who-steals-2917845/

Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven: There’s a songbird who steals?

Even if the band had lost the lawsuit, Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven would be still be on top of the charts.

Written by Akhil Sood | Published:July 17, 2016 12:00 am
Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven, Stairway to Heaven stolen, Stairway to Heaven copyright, musical copyright, copy left, plagiarism, music theft For years, Led Zeppelin have been accused of lifting parts of Jimmy Page’s intro of Stairway to Heaven from another song. (Source: Andrew Smith)

In countries more developed than ours, you have massive guitar stores, with a designated area where you can plug the guitars into the amps available and test them out. Most of these shops will have a sign in the area, warning all former and future guitar virtuosos that they’ll be kicked out if they play Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven. This song has p***ed off the employees so much that it’s now banned (along with a select few others: Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple, AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, and Hotel California by Eagles).

 

It’s an impossible task to evaluate the worth of a single song and locate its place in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, so the best we can do is judge it by anecdotal evidence and causality. Inspiring thousands of children to pick up the guitar to learn it should fare quite high on the basis of these parameters, I think. Today, 45 years later, even in India, you’ll have pre-pubescent chumps buying a rackety Givson guitar for Rs 3,000 and forcing their parents to pay for a guitar teacher. “Screw scales and exercises,” they say, “I want to learn Stairway to Heaven.” It’s a testament to the longevity of a single melody, which steers the song into such lofty heights, developing new lives with each passing movement. For what it’s worth, the relevance of this song has not waned (And I say this as a sceptic, one who staunchly refuses to commit to the cult of Led Zeppelin.)

There’s no such thing as a perfect song, of course; if there were, there’d be no need to write or listen to any new music. We’d just play that thing on loop until rigor mortis. But you have all these little self-contained rules and regulations to judge just how important a song really is. Being a source of inspiration is a major factor, but so is the obsession it can elicit.

Music fans tend to, by nature, be a nerdy lot who’ll internalise music to worrying degrees, getting lost in the process. Like that time one sadsack young fan decided he liked Stairway to Heaven so much that he just had to play it backwards. Thus began the discovery of those mythical Satanic proclamations that are apparently embedded in the song. Inciting such rabid commitment has to stand for something.

There’s a case to be made about the musicianship and the songwriting: how so much of what we hear in the mainstream is essentially rehashing old tropes and tricking our brains into mistaking familiarity for fondness. Some songs are simple and catchy, so we like them (like everything the Beatles wrote before they discovered drugs). Some aren’t, but they’re well-crafted, so we like them anyway (like everything the Beatles wrote after). Stairway to Heaven falls somewhere in the middle: it’s not exactly a simple three-chord song, and has plenty of dynamics in its arrangement. But it’s not some grand display of virtuosity either. It’s just a really solid rock ‘n’ roll song with that little something extra.

I don’t know them personally, but the guys in the band sound like horrible people. They took the “sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll” template to its logical extreme — the tragic death of drummer John Bonham is a case in point. And yet all’s forgiven. In fact, they’re venerated for their recklessness. They’re icons of rock ‘n’ roll, to the point that so much of the music that came after them was really either a continuation of what they did, or a counter-response to it.

UNITED KINGDOM - DECEMBER 01:  Photo of LED ZEPPELIN; L-R: John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham - posed, group shot, sitting on car bonnet - first photo session with WEA Records in London in December 1968. (Photo by Dick Barnatt/Redferns) Photo of Led Zepplin – (L-R) John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham – posed, group shot, sitting on car bonnet – first photo session with WEA Records in London in December 1968. (Photo by Dick Barnatt/Redferns)

You can’t attribute all of that to just one song, but it does help. It has that transcendental quality that unites opposing factions. You can play it at a house party and no one minds; play it on a “Bollywood night”, an “EDM night”, or just at a dive bar with crackly speakers, and no one minds. The reaction is always one of thrill or wistful nostalgia. So you judge the band less harshly.

That softened stance becomes all the more important given recent events. They have, since before this writer was even born, been facing accusations that the memorable intro by Jimmy Page features parts they lifted from the guitar line of a song called Taurus, by an obscure ’60s psychedelic band called Spirit, who they crossed paths with back in the day. The suit was finally filed in 2014, and, last month, Led Zeppelin was found not guilty of plagiarism. It doesn’t mean they didn’t steal it, though —just that a jury decided that they hadn’t.

That’s the thing: anything truly famous and remarkable will inevitably be followed by persistent accusations of dishonesty and intellectual theft (just ask Anu Malik). Sometimes it’s because of the endless maze of copyright laws, where copying certain things is permitted, like a chord progression, but copy a guitar line and you’re dead meat. It get more complex when you bring a tribute or homage into the picture. The reason why people commit crimes is not because we’re immoral; it’s because the laws are impossible to fully understand. The answer is rarely black-and-white, but the conversation itself — and how closely it’s followed by people — signifies its relevance in contemporary culture. And just for that, Stairway to Heaven has now become an even more important song in the grand scheme of things.

Akhil Sood is a Delhi-based musician and journalist.

 

Edited by PlanetPage
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