Strider Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 The latest news on proceedings. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-09/led-zeppelin-taps-nsync-expertise-in-stairway-to-heaven-case Haha, I was beginning to think the lawsuit was dead, as I did a search last week for any news and the most recent search result came from June. "Falsification of Rock and Roll History"...that made me laugh. One of the silliest lawsuits in recent memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truth and beauty Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 If everyone has read the bloomberg link posted by Reggie29, then you must all have followed up and done their quiz : http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-15/the-stairway-to-heaven-game-did-led-zeppelin-steal-the-greatest-song-opening-in-rock-history On the "hard" setting, it's perfect if, like me, you know Stairway very well but struggle to sight read ... What I haven't worked out is whether the four inaccurate bars are anything to do with Taurus ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truth and beauty Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-18/led-zeppelin-says-stairway-to-heaven-suit-should-be-tossed-or-moved-to-california Report here from Bloomberg to say that lawyers for the band are trying to get the case moved to California... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sathington Willoughby Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Not sure if anyone has posted this yet, the official court documents: http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/240196585?access_key=key-2dYnX0ldh7jDw2JjWcwZ&allow_share=true&escape=false&view_mode=scroll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stairway is NOT stolen Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 My username says it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrycja Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 (edited) Ok, so for reasons it doesn't behoove me to get into at this too-late juncture, I hope the following is coherent. This stupid lawsuit is insulting. Begging the question a bit there, but it's been bugging me ever since it came out, so here goes: Hey "Spirit": instead of a lawsuit, what you really ought to be saying is, "Thank you" - thank you, Led Zeppelin, for turning our redundant, uninspirning few notes into the most memorable musical note combination in rock history. Thank you for letting us ride your coat tails, and for now enabling the anyone-utterly-bored to check out our feeble version of a couple of random notes strung together in the hopes of SHAMELESSLY attempting to cash in. Have some self respect, "Spirit," and try and at least live up to the shadow of your name. Drop. The. Lawsuit. Your fifteen minutes is almost up. Just enjoy it while you can. You're welcome. Edited September 20, 2014 by Patrycja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sathington Willoughby Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/led-zeppelin-loses-first-round-741627 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Duck Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/led-zeppelin-loses-first-round-741627 Not the decision Zep wanted but this is only the first round. Does the plaintiff(s) live in Pennsylvania? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sathington Willoughby Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Not the decision Zep wanted but this is only the first round. Does the plaintiff(s) live in Pennsylvania? Yep, the bassist, Mark Andes. In May 2014, Mark Andes, bassist of the group Spirit, and a trust acting on behalf of Randy California, filed a copyright infringement suit against Led Zeppelin and injunction against the "release of the album containing the song" in an attempt to obtain a writing credit for the late California.[24] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Andes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mack Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 What??? They directly targeted Eastern Pennsylvania for sales??? A very novel marketing plan. Who knew that the citizens of Philadelphia were responsible for launching the greatest rock band in history The sarcasm is dripping off my keypad...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScarletMacaw Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 (edited) In my experience, lawyers' agendas are their own profit and will drag out anything for as long as possible in order to rack up their fees. I wish people in the music business who have disputes with each other would sit down and work it out person to person, man to man. I predict this lawsuit will drag on, but I hope I'm wrong. I have solved a number of disputes in my life without the use of an attorney, including contractual disputes, libel/defamation, car accidents etc. Edited October 18, 2014 by ScarletMacaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordStanley Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 I hate for this to be my first post, but after listening to Spirit's song whose guitarist was Randy California and then reading the article posted on CNN, there is merit in the claims of the dead man's estate. There are only three matching opening chords at the same tempo, but if you listen to the song Taurus at the 1:35 mark, I could just about sing a line or two from Stairway To Heaven. Based on that logic, every artist mentioned in this video needs to be sued by somebody. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHBVnMf2t7w Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Rudolph Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 The judge knows this case is going to get lots of publicity. Lots of media outlets sending journalists for stories. There was no way PA was going to give up all that free marketing to LA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LurksReturnington Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 (edited) I think the decision in favor of the Gaye family in the Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines" case was terrible for creativity and set a terrible legal precedent. Now everyone thinks they have a chance. The law founed in favor of a style, equating it with the substance of the melody, opening a huge pathway toward litigation. I disagree with their judgement. PS: Isn't Trying to live my life without you babe by Bob Seegar just In the Long Run by The Eagles? Where does this end? Edited October 18, 2014 by LurksReturnington Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagefan55 Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 (edited) In my experience, lawyers' agendas are their own profit and will drag out anything for as long as possible in order to rack up their fees. I wish people in the music business who have disputes with each other would sit down and work it out person to person, man to man. I predict this lawsuit will drag on, but I hope I'm wrong. I have solved a number of disputes in my life without the use of an attorney, including contractual disputes, libel/defamation, car accidents etc. I agree that lawyers agendas are their own profit and (some, in some cases) will drag out anything for as long as possible to rack up their own fees. And the do-it-yourself "man to man" approach makes sense in some cases. But I think for most people, in most cases, hiring a good, experienced lawyer is a good idea. If you're a person, like me, who is not particularly knowledgable (or interested) in the law, and has neither the time, energy or inclination to deal with the hassle and/or paperwork, then hiring an experienced attorney is usually a good idea. Edited October 18, 2014 by Pagefan55 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 The lawsuit against Led Zeppelin or Jimmy Page is nonsense. I don't know where Randy California discovered the music for 'Taurus', but I'm pretty sure where 'Stairway to heaven' came from: good old Johan Sebastian Bach. The lines where the lyrics start are exact copies of Suit in E-minor part 5 bourrée, music for lute. I've got it on an L.P. Werke für Laute, played by Narciso Yepes. Anyway, it was not Randy California that Jimmy Page took the music from. So we can finally stop every discussion about it and the lawyers can stop the lawsuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 In a way, this goes back to the debate whether Willie Dixon should have won the lawsuit for Whole Lotta Love and the incorrect "ripped bluesmen off" they got tagged with. Jake Holmes was the only one that had any case. And how many years did Robert Plant not get any songwriting credit off the first album? The Beatles stole way more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScarletMacaw Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 (edited) The lawsuit against Led Zeppelin or Jimmy Page is nonsense. I don't know where Randy California discovered the music for 'Taurus', but I'm pretty sure where 'Stairway to heaven' came from: good old Johan Sebastian Bach. The lines where the lyrics start are exact copies of Suit in E-minor part 5 bourrée, music for lute. I've got it on an L.P. Werke für Laute, played by Narciso Yepes. Anyway, it was not Randy California that Jimmy Page took the music from. So we can finally stop every discussion about it and the lawyers can stop the lawsuit. I would be interested to hear this; can you upload a sample of it? Stairway to Heaven is in A minor. Edited January 6, 2015 by ScarletMacaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truth and beauty Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 (edited) Hi Scarlet, Plenty of versions on Youtube: try this one Jimmy is certainly aware of the comparison and made it himself ( no doubt deliberately!) during several of his recent promotional interviews i.e. this one And if anyone doubts his familiarity with Bach's Bourree back in the day, he's heard to play a couple of phrases from it during the Heartbreaker solo on How the West Was Won. Perhaps on other occasions too, if anyone's heard it ..? Edited January 6, 2015 by truth and beauty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScarletMacaw Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Of course; this is so familiar! Although I don't think it really sounds like STH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperDave Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Definitely recognize the bit from Heartbreaker. The only similarity I can hear to STH is both pieces feature acoustic guitar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksgemini Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) I have heard atlNtic is going to start printing labels for 4 that have Randy California's name.. This from a Atlantic person to distributor for a chain so maybe it is not looking good Edited January 22, 2015 by ksgemini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truth and beauty Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I have heard atlNtic is going to start printing labels for 4 that have Randy California's name.. This from a Atlantic person to distributor for a chain so maybe it is not looking good I'm not doubting your sources at all but that seems very premature: it appears at the moment they can't even agree where to hold the hearing .... Unless they simply want to avoid it and would rather settle out of court ( now IV has been re released? ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raytuned Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Copyright infringements have certain criteria. One of them is the 3 chord rule . if you exceed it in any way then you infringed upon . its important to remember this rule when looking at the musical notation. Because they sound alike doesn't mean much. But one of the band members from Taurus, had a slip of the tongue ,he admitted just recently that considering the fact that stairway was what 1970/71 ,and Taurus Late sixties.well,why didn't they sue back then.I will tell you.....they waited for stairway to make some money (and it sure did).very clever cold,and calculating on Taurus behalf. So in essence this was a long time coming!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksgemini Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Yeah I am skeptical about what I was told honestly I don't know enough about music to judge but waiting this long seems ridiculous if they have a case or think they do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.