Classic Rock Magazine reports (British grammar theirs):

Led Zeppelin are to be sued by Spirit bassist Mark Andes over iconic track Stairway To Heaven’s similarity to a piece released by his band three years earlier.

They launched a composition called Taurus in 1968, and soon afterwards Led Zep supported them on their first-ever US tour. Stairway was released in 1971 on Led Zeppelin IV – but members of Spirit always claimed the opening acoustic guitar phrase was lifted from Taurus.

Late guitarist Randy California, who died in 1997, once commented: “I’d say it 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?’ It’s a sore point with me.”

Now Andes is gearing up to file papers in an attempt to stop the re-release of the track as part of Led Zep’s remaster series, unless California gets a co-writing credit and appropriate payment.

He says Jimmy Page and co heard the song on the road in 1968, and tells Business Week: “It was such a pretty moment, and it would typically come after a big forceful number. They would have seen it in that context. We did quite a few shows with those guys – not to say they might have heard it from the record.”

He says of his plans for legal action: “It would just be nice if the Led Zeppelin guys gave Randy a little nod. That would be lovely.”

The British outfit have been sued in the past over their compositions, with guitarist Page having said he chose to follow a tradition of taking previously-written material and creating “variations.” As a result of legal action they’ve assigned co-writing credits on Whole Lotta Love, The Lemon Song and Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.

Compare yourself between “Taurus” …

… and “Stairway to Heaven” …

… and you can decide whether one combination of notes of A, A-flat (or G-sharp if you prefer), G, G-flat (or F-sharp) F, G and A sounds like the other.

The legal standard in civil courts is “preponderance of the evidence,” which means more than 50 percent of the evidence. It’s a good thing for Spirit that this isn’t a criminal action, because there is no way you can compare “Taurus” and “Stairway to Heaven” and claim plagiarism beyond reasonable doubt.

The story of “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” can be read here. What is not mentioned there is the similarity, if you listen for it, at the beginning of “Babe” …

… and Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4” …

… both of which include notes, in order, of A, G, G minor (or F sharp), F and E. To me, it’s even more obvious in “Babe” and “25 or 6 to 4” than it is between “Taurus” and “Stairway to Heaven,” but as a fan of Chicago and Zeppelin perhaps I’m biased.

Perhaps the most famous case of pop musical, uh, inspiration came when the Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine” …

… sounded quite like George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord”:

I’m not sure what this means, but as a child of single-digit years I remember hearing what then was the Today show theme — I think it was called “This Is Today — and thinking it sounded an awful lot like “Day by Day” from the musical “Godspell.”

The result of that was the lawsuit Herald Square Music v. Living Music, a lawsuit in the same federal court that heard the Chiffons vs. Harrison case:

Starting first with what is listed in the pre-trial order as the second issue, I find that This Is Today is substantially similar to Day By Day. While with some instruction and having heard the pieces consecutively, I can now distinguish one from another, I believe if I were to hear them a few minutes apart, without being advised that they were different pieces, I would have assumed that they were the same, identical piece.

The differences between the two, at least as to melody, are relatively minor. The rhythm of the first four measures is identical. There are some similarities of rhythm in the last four measures that we have under consideration. While the harmony differs, I think it apparent that in a song of this type the harmony is not as important as the melody and the rhythm. …

In light of the substantial similarity of the two works, the access to the infringed composition, both by virtue of it having been played on the Today Show and the discussions concerning its possible use as theme music, I conclude that Day By Day was copied in whole or in part by the author of This Is Today.

With respect to the last framed issue, I do not find a sufficient similarity between Day By Day and any prior works of prior art to nullify its copyright nor do I find that the similarities between the notes are simply chance employments of prior art.

It follows, therefore, since I have found substantial similarity and copying, that This Is Today infringes the copyright in Day By Day.

I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t play one on TV, but if the composers of “Day by Day” were able to make a case of copyright infringement based on four measures, Spirit may have a case based on six measures.

 

The opposing view comes from Ted Ehlen:

Methinks some faded old rock star should have considered his retirement plan so he wouldn’t have to pursue something so frivolous. BTW, if this suit is deemed viable, then the estate of the members of Badfinger can sue Joe Jackson for using the first four notes of “Day After Day” over and over in “Breaking Us In Two,” the Kinks can sue the Doors’ estate for audibly appropriating the intro to “All Day And All Of The Night” for the intro of “Hello I Love You”, and the Stones can sue Holland-Dozier-Holland for the hook of the Supremes “My World Is Empty Without You” being verrrry similar to the hook of “Paint It Black.” What’s more, Randy California can sue Harry Chapin’s estate for the similarity of the beginning of the “Taurus” guitar piece with the intro of Harry’s “WOLD”. As a onetime songwriter, I just say it’s silly.

If Spirit wins, the surviving members could say it’s nature’s way, but if Zeppelin wins, the survivors could argue it was just a case of communication breakdown.