![]() Unsurprisingly, Led Zeppelin’s expert explained that the compositions were completely different. Skidmore’s lawyer set out five similarities, including the descending chromatic scales and the repetition of three two-note sequences (AB, BC, and CF#). The substantial similarity question, however, pitted expert musicologists against each other.Ībsent the ability to play the songs for the jury, the legal teams needed to rely on the expert analysis of the musical compositions. Indeed, Led Zeppelin performed with Spirit at least once, and Led Zeppelin’s guitarist Jimmy Page testified that he owned Spirit’s albums. The fact that Led Zeppelin had access to Taurus was not at issue. This can be further broken down into two limbs: “access” and “striking similarity” to the original content. In proving copyright infringement, the claimant must establish that the defendant actually “copied” the work in question, in a manner which amounts to “unlawful appropriation”. However, Judge McKeown disagreed, and ruled that it had been proper to limit the similarity analysis to the sheet music.įor a work to be protected by copyright, it must be independently created by the author and involve at least some minimal creativity. On appeal, Skidmore argued that the original jury should have been permitted to listen to the two songs in order to compare their substantial similarity (discussed below). The 1909 Act required that a copy of the sheet music be submitted to the Copyright Office and, importantly for our purposes, the copyright protection did not extend to the sound recording itself.įor this reason, it was only the one-page deposit copy of Taurus which ultimately defined the scope of the copyright. Thus, when Randy California wrote Taurus in 1967, his work fell under the scope of The Copyright Act of 1909. Given the pervasiveness of music streaming platforms today, it is easy to forget that in the United States, prior to the sweeping reforms of The Copyright Act of 1976, it was only the printed form (sheet music) of a composition that was protected under copyright law. Margaret McKeown covers several key points, including the decision not to play recordings of the songs at trial, and questions of originality and similarity. The matter was re-litigated and, in March 2020, the appellate court reinstated the original victory for Led Zeppelin. In that decision, the appeals panel invalidated the original ruling owing to errors of due process and poor jury instructions. In 2014, Michael Skidmore, the co-trustee of Randy California’s estate, brought a copyright infringement claim on the trust’s behalf against the band Led Zeppelin, its individual members, Warner Music, and others.Īfter Led Zeppelin successfully defended the case before a jury in 2016, Skidmore had the judgment overturned in 2018. Wolfe, known professionally as Randy California, wrote Taurus in 1967 and regularly performed the piece with his psychedelic rock band Spirit. Led Zeppelin litigation, the question before the court was whether the opening notes of Led Zeppelin’s 1973 anthem Stairway to Heaven infringed a song written by Randy Wolfe. 16-56057 (9th Cir., March 9, 2020) holds as good law, likely much to the relief of record labels and well-known artists alike. ![]() Accordingly, the ruling in favour of Led Zeppelin in Michael Skidmore v. The copyright infringement case brought against Led Zeppelin reached its final conclusion in October 2020, as the United States Supreme Court declined the opportunity to hear an appeal of the Ninth District Federal Appeals Court in California. The European Audiovisual Observatory is a European institute providing information and public policy on the fields of film, television, and new audiovisual media services from across 40 countries. ![]() This article was first published in the European Audiovisual Observatory’s monthly IRIS newsletter, edition 2021/1. Sounds: Led Zeppelin case reminds us of copyright technicalities ![]()
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