SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the http://www.spiderrobinson.com/melancholyelephants.html dept.
The latest battle has been over their classic song "Stairway to Heaven," and amazingly, court proceedings are now in their fifth year. On September 23rd, the battle continues — once again — in federal court.
That's when the full 'en banc' panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the copyright infringement lawsuit that the descendants of Randy Wolfe initially filed against Led Zeppelin. The descendants insist that the opening cords of "Stairway to Heaven" were stolen from a song that the late guitarist wrote called "Taurus," which was performed by the band Spirit.
[...] In August, more than 120 music artists filed an amicus brief in support of the band. The artists have said that if the lawsuit against Led Zeppelin succeeds, it could seriously hamper creativity in music. Even more impressively, the U.S. government also filed an amicus brief on behalf of Led Zeppelin, citing the need to "foster innovation and creative expression."
Previously:
Led Zeppelin Appear in Court Over Stairway to Heaven Vs Spirits Taurus Dispute
Music Copyright Laws Worsen as Artists Give Up
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 22 2019, @07:45PM (1 child)
You realize the coincidence of about 50 notes in a row being the same is fairly astronomical in nature right? This is not black midi set to random and seeing what pops out. You may want to click on the links I put in my post. You will find it is very different than what you want it to be.
More than likely they heard the melody and had it rolling around in their heads and plunked that other one out. They changed it up. But it is similar. The one bringing the lawsuit is however just digging for cash.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Sunday September 22 2019, @11:40PM
It would be if the notes were drawn at random out of a hat without regard to aesthetics.
However, the guitar line in Taurus and Stairway do not share 50 notes. The sharing first breaks on the 3rd note.