Led Zeppelin dispirited by copyright lawsuit

Rock band Led Zeppelin is facing a copyright lawsuit over its hit Stairway to Heaven.

According to reports, a lawsuit is set to be filed in the US by rock group Spirit that will accuse the UK band of stealing the introduction to one of its songs and using it in the widely acclaimed hit.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Mark Andes, Spirit’s bassist, alleges that Led Zeppelin heard the song, called Taurus, when his band was performing as a support act during a gig in the 1960s.

Andes is seeking an injunction to block the forthcoming re-release of Led Zeppelin’s fourth album, on which Stairway to Heaven appears, in the hope that Spirit guitarist Randy California, who wrote Taurus, receives a co-writing credit.

Andes, who said he is teaming up with California’s estate to file the lawsuit, said the guitar-riff introduction to Stairway to Heaven is strikingly similar to that used on Taurus.

The eight-minute song, released by Led Zeppelin in 1971, had earned $562 million as of 2008 and is regularly voted one of the greatest rock songs of all time.

California died in 1997 but was quoted as telling Listener magazine shortly before his death that he thought the track 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 for it?’ It’s kind of a sore point with me. Maybe someday their conscience will make them do something about it,” California said.

Both Led Zeppelin and Warner Music have said they will not comment on the allegations.

This is not the first time Led Zeppelin has been involved in a dispute over music rights.

Album listings for tracks including Whole Lotta Love and Babe I'm Gonna Leave You have had to be amended to include the names of artists who courts ruled were the true originators of the music.