Lawsuit over Stairway to Heaven

[KellyGirl]

A bit of silly speculation.

When or what could be the next thing that could  bring  Jimmy Page + Robert Plant and John
Paul Jones  together in the same room at the same time in an American city?  Yeah yeah sure
they could be in London,  but they wouldn't technically  be ' together.'   

It's a  taste of  bittersweet reality  to realize the 3 of them for a few hours last week were
a unit coming together for Led Zeppelin  -  and that will probably be the last time.  The trial
is  over.   Nobody wants random clowns continuing  to look for ways to sue the band just so
they're brought together. (At least we hope not )  If they share the same space again,  have it
be for something  positive and not for money grabbing  court cases.   In the mean time  they will
all go their separate ways and back to life apart from Led Zeppelin.  Today's reality.

Hey though,  Jason has a birthday coming up where he said he wanted to  invite the 3 of
them.  Is it wishful or naive to think the 4 of them would have an impromptu jam and
WHOOPS somebody records it?  I know, I know that chapter is closed already.  Simmer down 
I'm having forum fun.

My employer has been awesome the whole trial.  Allowing me to be on this site  along
with twitter while at work.   Bonus I even turned some of my clientele into Zep fans  

[SuperDave]

3 minutes ago, KellyGirl said:

A bit of silly speculation.

When or what could be the next thing that could  bring  Jimmy Page + Robert Plant and John
Paul Jones  together in the same room at the same time in an American city?  Yeah yeah sure
they could be in London,  but they wouldn't technically  be ' together.'   

It's a  taste of  bittersweet reality  to realize the 3 of them for a few hours last week were
a unit coming together for Led Zeppelin  -  and that will probably be the last time.  The trial
is  over.   Nobody wants random clowns continuing  to look for ways to sue the band just so
they're brought together. (At least we hope not )  If they share the same space again,  have it
be for something  positive and not for money grabbing  court cases.   In the mean time  they will
all go their separate ways and back to life apart from Led Zeppelin.  Today's reality.

Hey though,  Jason has a birthday coming up where he said he wanted to  invite the 3 of
them.  Is it wishful or naive to think the 4 of them would have an impromptu jam and
WHOOPS somebody records it?  I know, I know that chapter is closed already.  Simmer down 
I'm having forum fun.

My employer has been awesome the whole trial.  Allowing me to be on this site  along
with twitter while at work.   Bonus I even turned some of my clientele into Zep fans  

Nice work Kelly throughout the trial!  Great detailed info and it was much appreciated by keeping us informed of the proceedings!

[Balthazor]

I think talk of a counter suit, which admittedly I myself engaged in much earlier in this thread, is likely just people venting their frustration at Skidmore and Malofiy for dragging Zeppelin, and all their fans, through this ridiculous trial, and in the process further advancing this notion of Zeppelin as musical thieves. So yeah, on a purely emotional level, I'd love to see Zep counter sue and, legally-speaking, crush Skidmore under their boot. But a more reality-based perspective says just enjoy the victory and move on.

[THUNDERZEP]

Very pleased with the outcome

[Queen of Light]

3 hours ago, Ddladner said:

Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!

For the correct verdict.  And the hug.  

 

 

That hug would have been awesome to see !  Big hugs to you too Kelly Girl for such good commentary, much appreciated. Peace and Love ya'll...

Edited June 24, 2016 by Queen of Light

[The Pagemeister]

 

[JohnOsbourne]

Very good news indeed.  I was rather pessimistic about the outcome, glad to have been proven wrong.  (Still say Page et al. made this more difficult than it needed to be.)

[zepscoda]

Jumping for joy!!!!! 

What a waste of their time 

[Ddladner]

Just turned on Pandora and STH is playing.  Not surprised, it's probably the #1 played song today! I'm not complaining a bit. 

 

[mack]

Check out Malifoy's post verdict remarks.  Loser......

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3656895/Led-Zeppelin-win-Stairway-Heaven-plagiarism-case.html

[Balthazor]

13 minutes ago, mack said:

Check out Malifoy's post verdict remarks.  Loser......

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3656895/Led-Zeppelin-win-Stairway-Heaven-plagiarism-case.html

No kidding. Like Skidmore and the Wolfe estate is really going to appeal. Even if they did appeal, I doubt they'd hire him as their lawyer again. They'd be total idiots if they did.

The best is this line from Skidmore:  Speaking outside court, Mr Skidmore said: "Money has triumphed over common sense."

Seriously? He's got that exactly backwards. Common sense triumphed over money.

[KellyGirl]

Thank you so much  SuperDave,  Ddladner and Queen of Light.   

O m g  Malofiy  put a damn sock in it.  He is nattering on about what he believes was a
skewed trial towards Zep from the beginning.   Stop it.  Judge K.  allowed  unprejudiced and
unbiased evidence to be part of the trial.   It doesn't matter if the defendants have more
money,  and are represented by corporate bigwigs and suits.  Peter and Helene weren't
strolling up to the jury  winking,  flirting,  bending over dropping their pens and handing out
wads of cash if they voted in favour of  Led Zeppelin.   The 8 person jury heard the experts play
all pieces both sides.   They voted that the two were separate and the Judge told them chords can
not be owned.  Just as Hershey  chocolate does not own cocoa beans,  Budweiser  does not own
barley and Randy California does not own guitar notes or chords.  

I also want to touch on the jury stating  Jimbert had access to hear Taurus  doesn't  technically
mean the jury believes they indeed heard it.   It just means they believe prior to writing
Stairway To Heaven  there was very real chance they had opportunity to hear it  - as did anyone
else who was alive,  owned  a record player in the late 1960s  and had functioning eardrums.  
Yes  Jimbert  could have skipped merrily along holding hands on route to a record store,  
bought the record,  came home and listened to it an hour before they started writing
Stairway,    but still there is NO factual proof that happened -  It only implies that there was
realistic possibility.  i.e.  June 20th I had access to a car - Does that mean I drove it?  Nope!  All
it means is I had access to it since it was in my garage and the keys were in my possession.   I
think it's a gray fuzzy area with the jury's  statement  when you think about it don't you?   This
is the big reason why they probably had to move on towards listening to the song.   The proof
of access was not 100% guarantee.   "I don't recall"  is such back door out when you're
under oathe isn't it.  

Side note.  My husband while away with his job said 'certain people' in connection with an M L B
team were happy with the verdict.   Zep have fans in all corners don't they.  

Edited June 24, 2016 by KellyGirl

[juxtiphi]

8 hours ago, Tea41 said:

Nah, I think they are quite happy to move on at this point. Let's get Jimmy going on his solo album, that's what I'm really waiting for. Something tells me it's going to be special.

 

I heard he's going to cover Spirits first album in its' entirety.

[Strider]

5 hours ago, zepscoda said:

Jumping for joy!!!!! 

What a waste of their time 

That's Peter Frampton not Jimmy Page. Taken from the 1976 Day on the Green at Oakland the year before Zeppelin's gig.

Anyway, I am a weary traveller but dead chuffed at the news. Thanks Walter for the alert. Finally an L.A. jury delivers a rational verdict...not always a given.

Stop with the countersuit talk, people. It is ugly, mean-spirited, costly, counter-productive.

My hearty thanks to Pamela, KellyGirl, Sam, Walter, Pagemeister, Queen of Light, Cookie0024, and anyone else providing up to the minute reports, posts, tweets, etc.

Celebration Day indeed!

[Bozoso73]

5 hours ago, Balthazor said:

No kidding. Like Skidmore and the Wolfe estate is really going to appeal. Even if they did appeal, I doubt they'd hire him as their lawyer again. They'd be total idiots if they did.

The best is this line from Skidmore:  Speaking outside court, Mr Skidmore said: "Money has triumphed over common sense."

Seriously? He's got that exactly backwards. Common sense triumphed over money.

Indeed

[Mercurious]

6 hours ago, KellyGirl said:

I also want to touch on the jury stating  Jimbert had access to hear Taurus  doesn't  technically
mean the jury believes they indeed heard it.   It just means they believe prior to writing
Stairway To Heaven  there was very real chance they had opportunity to hear it  - as did anyone
else who was alive,  owned  a record player in the late 1960s  and had functioning eardrums.  

Nahh, they didn't believe him (LA Times reported that) yet still ruled that the music he wrote was untouchable.  We all know he had access -- he owns five Spirit records and the "Fresh Garbage" connection sealed it.  But these eight beautiful people on the jury decided that Jimmy Page's work was unique and wonderful and that no one in their right mind should have any claim on it. Music won yesterday, and one can only hope that the world will be better because of it.   We cannot underestimate the importance of the precedence set yesterday with this decision.  Amazing really, how much this means for all musicians moving forward. 

Edited June 24, 2016 by Mercurious

[zepscoda]

3 hours ago, Strider said:

That's Peter Frampton not Jimmy Page. Taken from the 1976 Day on the Green at Oakland the year before Zeppelin's gig.

Anyway, I am a weary traveller but dead chuffed at the news. Thanks Walter for the alert. Finally an L.A. jury delivers a rational verdict...not always a given.

Stop with the countersuit talk, people. It is ugly, mean-spirited, costly, counter-productive.

My hearty thanks to Pamela, KellyGirl, Sam, Walter, Pagemeister, Queen of Light, Cookie0024, and anyone else providing up to the minute reports, posts, tweets, etc.

Celebration Day indeed!

OMG.... You're right....WTF was I smoking last night....lol....thanks for the correction.

[zeplz71]

Annoying TMZ reporter follows Plant at LAX yesterday

http://www.tmz.com/2016/06/23/robert-plant-lax-video-stairway-to-heaven-verdict/

 

[sixpense]

12 hours ago, Balthazor said:

No kidding. Like Skidmore and the Wolfe estate is really going to appeal. Even if they did appeal, I doubt they'd hire him as their lawyer again. They'd be total idiots if they did.

The best is this line from Skidmore:  Speaking outside court, Mr Skidmore said: "Money has triumphed over common sense."

Seriously? He's got that exactly backwards. Common sense triumphed over money.

Their complaint was that the jury wasn't allowed to hear the actual recording. Interesting, since the jury asked to hear both tracks on guitar (prepared for the trial) and decided that they were not alike.

Good luck with that appeal!

Also, If you listen to the brief press conference by the sisters of Randy California, all they talked about was money. 

[ZepDomi]

23 minutes ago, sixpense said:

Also, If you listen to the brief press conference by the sisters of Randy California, all they talked about was money. 

The sisters probably already had their cut of suit money spent.   Too bad. 

[notfadeaway]

I was inside the courtroom for part of the trial.  http://thelosangelesbeat.com/2016/06/lawyers-in-led-zeppelin-case-ramble-on-in-stairway-to-heaven-trial/

[notfadeaway]

My original story, with links to court docs:  http://thelosangelesbeat.com/2016/05/led-zeppelin-in-court-again-in-los-angeles/

[IpMan]

2 hours ago, sixpense said:

Their complaint was that the jury wasn't allowed to hear the actual recording. Interesting, since the jury asked to hear both tracks on guitar (prepared for the trial) and decided that they were not alike.

Good luck with that appeal!

Also, If you listen to the brief press conference by the sisters of Randy California, all they talked about was money. 

Two sisters, attempting to rip the last pieces of flesh from the corpse of their dead brother to satisfy their greed, only to find the flesh putrid and decayed. Pathetic. These two should be ashamed of themselves. 

For me the Pepsi Challenge was the fact Randy California himself never brought suit, and, that the publishing and record companies themselves consulted a music expert in 2014 to discover merit, if any, existed. If the publishing company and record company, both with deep pockets, concludes there is no case, well then, there obviously is no case. I believe these sisters were hoping for emotion to carry their futile case ala OJ, that is using the name of a dead musician and a charity to win favor with the courts and jury.

That is some seriously sick and twisted logic there. I feel sorry for Randy California as it must have been hell growing up with those two succubi.

[AnotherNewMember]

39 minutes ago, IpMan said:

Two sisters, attempting to rip the last pieces of flesh from the corpse of their dead brother to satisfy their greed, only to find the flesh putrid and decayed. Pathetic. These two should be ashamed of themselves. 

For me the Pepsi Challenge was the fact Randy California himself never brought suit, and, that the publishing and record companies themselves consulted a music expert in 2014 to discover merit, if any, existed. If the publishing company and record company, both with deep pockets, concludes there is no case, well then, there obviously is no case. I believe these sisters were hoping for emotion to carry their futile case ala OJ, that is using the name of a dead musician and a charity to win favor with the courts and jury.

That is some seriously sick and twisted logic there. I feel sorry for Randy California as it must have been hell growing up with those two succubi.

They are giving the money away to charity and I you call them greedy??  That's what _I_ would call "some seriously sick and twisted logic"....

 

[mack]

There were some serious questions early on regarding the legitimacy of the charity, which I believe is called the Randy California Project.