Led Zeppelin’s Plant, Page to face ‘Stairway to Heaven’ trial

Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page will face a trial to determine whether the songwriters stole another song’s music for the opening chords to “Stairway to Heaven.”
 
A U.S. District Judge determined the 1971 rock classic bore enough similarities to Spirit’s 1967 song “Taurus” that copyright infringement would have to be determined by a jury.
 
Michael Skidmore – a trustee for the late composer of “Taurus," Randy Wolfe – brought the lawsuit that contends Led Zeppelin’s members were influenced by Wolfe’s song.
 
Page and Plant maintain Wolfe has no legitimate claim of authorship, as the chord progressions used in the opening two minutes of “Stairway” are so common in popular music that they do not fall under copyright protection laws, according to Reuters.
 
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