In a story Ghost Cult has been following for some time, a federal appeals court agreed today (Monday, June 10) to give Led Zeppelin a new hearing to defend a jury’s favorable verdict in a suit that claimed the opening lines of ‘Stairway To Heaven’ had been plagiarized from the 1968 instrumental song ‘Taurus’, by the band Spirit. In addition to the band themselves, music experts, including Rik Emmet of Triumph testified that the descending chord progression found in both songs is common in classical and popular music in countless compositions and cannot be “copyrighted” as a signature riff. Last September, a federal appeals court decided unanimously to overturn a jury’s decision that the 1971 track, arguably the most popular classic rock song ever, was not a rip-off of Spirit’s song. Michael Skidmore, the trustee of ‘Taurus’ songwriter Randy “California” Wolfe’s estate, had brought the claims more than four decades after ‘Stairway To Heaven’ appeared on Zep’s untitled album, better known as Led Zeppelin IV or the Zoso album. Skidmore is a well-known in the industry “copyright troll” who’s many lawsuits are cash-grabs without merit. Continue reading →