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Spyglass
Resident Metalhead
Gender: Male
Location: The red dot on the map
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- #1
- Posted: 04/11/2020 15:37
- Post subject: Led Zeppelin wins Stairway case against Spirit
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In 2018, Spirit's lawsuit against Led Zeppelin for Stairway's into was appealed, and the case lasted until last month when a large part of the case relied on the "inverse ratio rule," which the court overturned opinion on. What do you think?
I have to say I agree it's not rely a rip-off. Zeppelin's "thefts" were part of a time when blues covers and new takes on the songs were common, so the Willie Dixon action may have come as a surprise to them. But the only serious similarities between Taurus and Stairway are the instruments and the tempo.
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Do it yourself and let me play my music: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=61802
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Spyglass
Resident Metalhead
Gender: Male
Location: The red dot on the map
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- #2
- Posted: 04/12/2020 16:12
- Post subject:
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I guess this discussion has been done before. I think I have to read everyone's diaries to get a good discussion going. 
_________________
Do it yourself and let me play my music: https://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?c=61802
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PurpleHazel
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- #3
- Posted: 04/13/2020 00:39
- Post subject: Re: Led Zeppelin wins Stairway case against Spirit
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| Spyglass wrote: | | In 2018, Spirit's lawsuit against Led Zeppelin for Stairway's into was appealed, and the case lasted until last month when a large part of the case relied on the "inverse ratio rule," which the court overturned opinion on. What do you think? |
The similarities between the two songs were discussed at some length in a thread about songs that sound like other songs, but the legal case wasn't covered that much there. It's very possible the case was discussed more in another thread like the Musical Random Chat one.
Don't know much about the legal standards for music copyright infringement, but after listening to Taurus again and watching a guitarist's Youtube video about the musical similarities and differences between the STH intro and Taurus, I think it is copyright infringement based on the little I know of past cases. The guitarist in the video was able to verbalize similarities I could hear but not express in musical terms since I'm not really a musician. They both start in A minor, they have a very similar descending bassline, and perhaps most importantly, the fingerpicking and, as you point out, the rhythm of the fingerpicking are very similar. The main difference is the melody to the STH intro rises during the first three notes.
| Quote: | | Zeppelin's "thefts" were part of a time when blues covers and new takes on the songs were common, so the Willie Dixon action may have come as a surprise to them. But the only serious similarities between Taurus and Stairway are the instruments and the tempo. |
As you know, there's a big difference between an acknowledged cover and borrowing/stealing major elements of a song. The fact that Zeppelin has a history of copping parts of songs and only retroactively correcting the songwriting credits -- twice with songs written by Willie Dixon -- doesn't help their case (don't mean the legal case, I mean public opinion and in my mind). There was a long tradition of white artists and label owners ripping off black artists and I think the controversies around Zeppelin and blues artists were part of the process of changing those traditions.
IMHO, STH is more clearly infringement than "Blurred Lines." Blurred Lines' rhythmic foundation, while unambiguously based on Got to Give It Up, sounds like a homage to me, and the melody and lyrics of the two songs are nothing alike.
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PurpleHazel
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- #4
- Posted: 04/13/2020 07:19
- Post subject:
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| Spyglass wrote: | | I guess this discussion has been done before. I think I have to read everyone's diaries to get a good discussion going. |
Threads/posts of this kind generally appear in the Music forum, but much more so before 2019, even 2018. Almost (but not every) subject has had a thread at some point. Though as Romanelli said, there's no harm in repeating one. Every year or two there's an overrated/underrated band thread. 
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