led zeppelin being sued for plagiarism over "stairway to heaven"

[Pogo]

Led Zeppelin were not stealing the riffs but merely sampling the riffs.
It works for Rappers, ARappers steal, I mean sample music as use it as their own.

"Sampling" means capturing a sound file -- not the composition, the original sound -- from somewhere else and using that element. That's not the story here and it wasn't really happening in the '60s anyway. This is taking somebody else's song, or parts of songs, that somebody else wrote and either copyrighted or arranged (or both) and then putting your own name on it as if you created it.

That matters because the composer gets a royalty every time your record sells, and take a moment to consider how many records LZ sold.

First off I do not think Spirit has a case against Led Zeppelin, close but no cookie as they say. I suppose by your definition Vanilla Ice did not steal/sample Bowie's Under Pressure?

"Under Pressure" is a great example I've been running in my head. That's a sample -- a sound file taken literally. Vanilla Boy constructed a different song around it but the bass riff is unmistakably identical.

I don't know what the copyright laws have settled on as a remedy as far as how much you can use before you have to pay for it and how much you have to pay. You can't call the Ice thing the same song as "Under Pressure" but you can't say the Bowie song wasn't mined either.

And I agree that "Stairway" and "Taurus" are two different works. They share a minor chord progression but lots of works use that. I'm sure Page took the idea of that progression from hearing Spirit play "Taurus", but he legitimately made a new song after that point, IMO. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Uncensored2008]

One of the most egregious acts of plagiarism I know of is Ted Nugent's "Hey Baby" which openly rips off Eric Clapton's "Hide Away."

While the riff in question is only a small part of the Clapton Song, it forms the entire Nugent composition.

 

[JoeB131]

Actually, listening to the riff, yeah, I'd agree, it does sound VERY similar.

I think waiting 40 years to do something about it.... meh, not so much.

 

[Harry Dresden]

One of the most egregious acts of plagiarism I know of is Ted Nugent's "Hey Baby" which openly rips off Eric Clapton's "Hide Away."

While the riff in question is only a small part of the Clapton Song, it forms the entire Nugent composition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwfv4ixZD5w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZlLLvaJysw&feature=kp

Nugent did not pen it though.....Derek St. Holmes did and sang it.....

also to note here Hide Away is credited to Freddie King and Sonny Thompson...... Freddie King said that "Hide Away" came from a Hound Dog Taylor song called "Taylor's Boogie"......

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Led Zeppelin took crude prototypes and crafted them into masterpieces. It's like lamenting the piece of marble Michelangelo crafted into"David"

 

[Pogo]

Led Zeppelin took crude prototypes and crafted them into masterpieces. It's like lamenting the piece of marble Michelangelo crafted into"David"

It would be -- if Michelangelo had sculpted stones into the same stones they started as...

 

[theDoctorisIn]

The older I get, the more I appreciate the Beatles, the Who and the Rolling Stones.

The older I get, the more I think Led Zeppelin are a bunch of overhyped, overrated hacks.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Led Zeppelin took crude prototypes and crafted them into masterpieces. It's like lamenting the piece of marble Michelangelo crafted into"David"

It would be -- if Michelangelo had sculpted stones into the same stones they started as...

Clueless as ever

 

[whitehall]

The problem with rock stars is that they are ....rock stars. If they live long enough they play by habit and today's electronic gizmos make up for everything else. It's doubtful if they would even remember the song. It's interesting to note that the Baseball Hall of Fame refused to admit Pete Rose because he was accused of gambling. If the Rock and Roll hall of fame refused to recognize stars with felony convictions and drug arrests (what- gambling?) the R&R hall of fame would be a vast empty cavern.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Kory Grow, Rolling Stone—As Led Zeppelin promote the extravagant reissues of their first three albums for an early June release, a lawyer representing deceased Spirit guitarist Randy California is claiming the hard-rock legends stole the intro for their 1971 single "Stairway to Heaven" from Spirit's 1968 song "Taurus." Attorney Francis Alexander Molofiy wants to prevent the release of the Led Zeppelin IV reissue when the time comes, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. "The idea behind this is to make sure that Randy California is given a writing credit on 'Stairway to Heaven,'" Malofiy said. "It's been a long time coming."

Led Zeppelin and Spirit, who had a hit with "I Got a Line on You," played four gigs together in 1968 and 1969 (shows at which Businessweek claims Spirit played "Taurus"). Led Zeppelin also reportedly played a medley of songs that included Spirit's "Fresh-Garbage" – a song that appeared on the same LP side as "Taurus" – on their first U.S. tour.

In an interview with Listener magazine published the year of his death, California said he felt "Stairway to Heaven" was a "rip-off." "The guys made millions of bucks on it and never said 'Thank you,' never said, 'Can we pay you some money for it?'" he said. "It's kind of a sore point with me. Maybe someday their conscience will make them do something about it."

Spirit and California's family have waited until now to challenge the song's authorship because they did not have the means to pay attorneys. At the end of California's life, he would play sitar at an Indian restaurant in exchange for food.

A rep for Led Zeppelin declined to comment for Businessweek's story, but Page discussed the band's history with crediting songwriters after the fact in a recent interview with The New York Times. When asked why the group waited to credit Willie Dixon for bits of lyrics and melody that made their way into "Whole Lotta Love," he acknowledged, "Within the lyrics of it, there's [Dixons's] "You Need Love," and there are similarities within the lyrics. Now I'm not pointing a finger at anybody, but I'm just saying that's what happened, and Willie Dixon got credit. Fair enough."

Reissues of Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II and Led Zeppelin III are due in stores on June 3rd. Each is available in a deluxe edition that contains a full disc of never-before-released studio takes and live tracks.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd8AVbwB_6E]Spirit, Taurus[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcL---4xQYA]Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven[/ame]

https://music.yahoo.com/news/led-ze...geted-plagiarism-181041510-rolling-stone.html

Oh boy...This one's a winner.
Umm you don't wait 46 years to file a lawsuit.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Umm, yeah it does — matter.

I guess you didn't read that Zep and Spirit played a few shows together back in '69.

Clearly, Randy California and Spirit have a claim here.

We do, after all, live in Obama's America.

(I'll let you figure out what that means.)

No, they don't have a claim. There is a vague similarity, but it isn't even close to plagiarism.

Christ. So many rock musical scores are similar. Most metal songs are in the Key of C and use 5 basic chords.

 

[Pogo]

Led Zeppelin took crude prototypes and crafted them into masterpieces. It's like lamenting the piece of marble Michelangelo crafted into"David"

It would be -- if Michelangelo had sculpted stones into the same stones they started as...

Clueless as ever

Your clue's back in post 33 Frank. Not hard to look this stuff up.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

It would be -- if Michelangelo had sculpted stones into the same stones they started as...

Clueless as ever

Your clue's back in post 33 Frank. Not hard to look this stuff up.

Yes, the songs have the same name, that's a fantastic insight!

 

[IlarMeilyr]

THIS sure is a timely lawsuit.

 

[Pogo]

Clueless as ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TECHTM5clpw

Your clue's back in post 33 Frank. Not hard to look this stuff up.

Yes, the songs have the same name, that's a fantastic insight!

They should -- it's the same song. That's not the issue.

Actually this might be an exception to the pattern as this tune seems to have been properly credited but the pattern this lawsuit is going after is one where LZ took other people's songs and put their name on them and took the royalties. That well known pattern is no doubt the impetus behind the instant case here. As noted back in 16, this particular case is unlikely to be taken seriously on its timing alone, let alone that it's pretty hard to see the two songs in question here as the same thing. Musically, they're not.

But in a lot of cases they were -- this was posted earlier, I'll add an index, listed by the LZ name, where it compares the LZ song with the older one (or ones) whence it came, none of which were properly credited to their original writers -- this one is concentrated on the first LZ album:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyvLsutfI5M"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyvLsutfI5M[/ame]

INDEX:
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (Joan Baez version) appears at beginning 0:00
Black Mountain Side (Bert Jansch) 1:21
Dazed and Confused (Jake Holmes) 2:36
How Many More Times (Howlin' Wolf element) 4:55
How Many More Times (Albert King element) 6:17
How Many More Times (Jeff Beck element) 8:07
Communication Breakdown (Eddie Cochran) 8:59

Not mentioned in the video, again in "How Many More Times": the riff at the end that goes "Oh Rosie... Oh girl"..." is taken from a folklore recording from a prison

 

[Pogo]

Second and third LZ albums here:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zThdTAWQFAQ"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zThdTAWQFAQ[/ame]

Whole Lotta Love (Muddy Waters) 0:10
Whole Lotta Love (Small Faces nick) 0:44
Lemon Song (Howlin' Wolf) 1:52
Lemon Song (Robert Johnson) (small bit) 3:24
Moby Dick (Bobby Parker) 4:32
Bring it Oh Home (Sonny Boy Williamson) 5:31
Since I've Been Loving You (Moby Grape) 6:58
Hats Off to Roy Harper (Bukka White) 8:18

 

[Harry Dresden]

Led Zeppelin took crude prototypes and crafted them into masterpieces. It's like lamenting the piece of marble Michelangelo crafted into"David"

some of those "crude prototypes" were already masterpieces..... some of the great Blues standards .....even Zappa would admit that....

 

[Harry Dresden]

Clueless as ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TECHTM5clpw

Your clue's back in post 33 Frank. Not hard to look this stuff up.

Yes, the songs have the same name, that's a fantastic insight!

its the same song Frank....have you ever heard Willie Dixon sing it?....1962 recording....same lyrics....Zepplin just did a hard rock version of it.....

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Your clue's back in post 33 Frank. Not hard to look this stuff up.

Yes, the songs have the same name, that's a fantastic insight!

its the same song Frank....have you ever heard Willie Dixon sing it?....1962 recording....same lyrics....Zepplin just did a hard rock version of it.....

I'm pretty sure my vinyl led zeppelin I credits Willie dixon

Sent from smartphone using my wits and Taptalk

 

[Fang]

Oh please, that's a very common chord arrangement in many songs - not just rock songs. Aside from the opening the songs are nothing alike.

Listen to the bridge section at 2:00 of this No Doubt song. It's the same type of progression.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kRpZJ9EgJho