Ninth Circuit Report

• Jurisdiction: United States,Federal
• Author: Anne-Marie Dao
• Publication year: 2020
• Citation: Vol. 45 No. 2

Ninth Circuit Report

Anne-Marie Dao

Troutman Sanders LLP

I sincerely hope readers of this Ninth Circuit Report are staying safe, and staying healthy. This edition of the Report discusses Led Zeppelin's win in the "Stairway to Heaven" Copyright case.

BACKGROUND

This case started in 2014, when Michael Skidmore, the Trustee for Robert Wolfe's estate, brought a suit for Copyright infringement against the English rock band Led Zeppelin for infringing the song Taurus written by Robert Wolfe in Led Zeppelin's 1971 song, Stairway to Heaven.

Mr. Randy Wolfe, or as he was known, Randy California, wrote the song Taurus in 1966 or 1967. Mr. Wolfe was a guitarist in the band Spirit. A copyright was registered in 1967 for the song Taurus and a page of the sheet music was deposited with the United States Copyright Office (as the 1909 Copyright Act required).¹ Around the same time, Led Zeppelin released its fourth album, which contained the song Stairway to Heaven. In the late 1960s, the two bands performed at the same venues, and Led Zeppelin even covered a Spirit song. "But there is no direct evidence that the two bands toured together, or that Led Zeppelin band members heard Spirit perform Taurus."²

Mr. Wolfe passed away in 1997, with his mother establishing the Randy Craig Wolfe Trust, and serving as trustee until she passed away. It was not until Michael Skidmore became co-trustee in 2006 that a suit was filed, alleging that Stairway to Heaven infringed the Taurus copyright. In the suit, Mr. Skidmore alleged "direct, contributory, and vicarious copyright infringement. He also sought equitable relief for a claim that he titled 'Right of Attribution—Equitable Relief—Falsification of Rock 'n' Roll History'"³

LOWER COURT HOLDING

A jury ruled in Led Zeppelin's...