Jimmy Page takes stand in Led Zeppelin lawsuit

The trial over whether Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant stole the iconic opening riff to “Stairway to Heaven” opened with testimony about when the British rockers might have heard the 1968 song they’re accused of copying. Videos played in court of other musicians playing from the sheet music differ significantly from the recorded version of “Taurus”.

Malofiy responded with videos of guitar interpretations of both songs which sounded more similar, prompting complaints from Anderson that it was not an agreed exhibit and could trigger a mistrial. When played simultaneously, similarities and differences were audible and could be seen in the finger work.

Regardless of motive, both parties face a lengthy legal climb over the coming weeks to determine the true origins of “Stairway to Heaven”, but it remains undetermined how this will impact the song’s overall legacy.

US lawyer Francis Alexander Molofiy, who is handling the case, said: ‘The idea behind this is to make sure that Randy California is given a writing credit on Stairway to Heaven.

Anderson said the part of the song in dispute is a sequence of notes in the opening bars, a “descending chromatic line…something that appears in all kinds of songs”.

“It’s a well-used musical device”.

The lawsuit, originally filed in Pennsylvania, speaks of Led Zeppelin’s “deep-rooted history of lifting composition from blues artists and other songwriters who they have repeatedly failed to credit”.

But the hearing, before Los Angeles district judge Gary Klausner, could be cut short after the lawyer representing late Spirit guitarist Randy California apparently used evidence that had not been included in trial plans.

“Wolfe drowned in 1997, saving his son in Hawaii”, reported USA Today. One recalled learning to play guitar by plucking Stairway to Heaven.

“Taurus was a special moment” at Spirit shows, former member Jay Ferguson said on the stand. He called it a “palate cleanser” between the band’s more rocking songs.

“Forty-five years ago, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote some of the greatest songs in rock and roll history… half a century later, they’re being sued for it”, Anderson said, adding that there is still enough evidence “to show that history can not be rewritten”. But the decision appears to have prompted a surge in copyright-infringement filings.

Page, Plant and their band mate John Paul Jones are all expected to testify at the trial, though Jones had been dismissed as a defendant in the case.

Attorneys for Led Zeppelin have argued the chord progressions cited in the civil lawsuit were so clichéd that they did not deserve copyright protection.

A judge trimmed the award, and the verdict is under appeal.