Not done yet: ‘Stairway to Heaven’ verdict challenged

Plaintiff files appeal in 1971 hit’s plagiarism case

NEW YORK: The plaintiff who failed to convince a Los Angeles jury that British rock band Led Zeppelin had plagiarised the opening guitar passage for its 1971 rock anthem Stairway to Heaven now plans to appeal the verdict, court papers reveal.

Michael Skidmore – the trustee for the songs of Spirit band member Randy Wolfe – filed a notice of appeal of the June 23 verdict, with the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The court has acknowledged receipt of the notice.

Jurors found that Led Zeppelin’s lead singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page did not steal the opening to Stairway from Spirit’s instrumental Taurus, which was penned in 1967. Though Plant and Page, both of whom testified at the trial, had access to Taurus, jurors claimed that the song’s riff was not intrinsically similar to the opening of Stairway.

Skidmore had argued that Wolfe, who performed as Randy California before drowning in 1997, deserved a writing credit and that the trust set up in his name deserved millions of dollars in damages. Oral arguments on Skidmore’s appeal will likely not take place before 2017, court records show.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2016.

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