Appeal filed in copyright case of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway’

Michael Skidmore, the trustee for late Spirit composer Randy Wolfe who originally brought the case, has appealed the decision through his attorney, Francis Malofiy. He filed a notice of appeal last Saturday with the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. This past weekend, Skidmore filed an appeal, as Courthouse News reports.

Court records show that oral arguments on Skidmore’s appeal are unlikely to take place before 2017. “One doesn’t know precisely all of the issues that are going to be raised – or the full spectrum of challenges and bases therefore – until their appellate briefing”.

In conjunction with the verdict, the jury also ruled that Wolfe’s trust is the rightful owner of “Taurus”, and found that Led Zeppelin’s members did have access to the Spirit song before before “Stairway to Heaven” was written.

Music litigator Christine Lepera predicted the appeal would drag on for months, but the song would remain the same.

In the trial, Skidmore claimed Stairway To Heaven had earned the band tens of millions, although Page and Robert Plant reckoned it was more like hundreds of thousands. After a two week trial in June, a jury ruled in favor of Zeppelin.

Although maintaining silence after the ruling was announced in Led Zeppelin’s favour, Jimmy Page, 72, has now addressed their triumph in a Facebook post. Warner/Chappell’s lawyers were seeking in excess of $650,000 to cover legal fees.