Robert Plant & Jimmy Page
Led Zeppelin has won an ongoing copyright lawsuit over the guitar riff in “Stairway to Heaven,” according to a verdict announced on Thursday reports Variety.
“We are grateful for the jury’s conscientious service and pleased that it has ruled in our favor, putting to rest questions about the origins of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and confirming what we have known for 45 years,” Jimmy Page and Robert Plant said in the joint statement. “We appreciate our fans’ support, and look forward to putting this legal matter behind us.”
A Warner Music Group spokesperson added, “At Warner Music Group, supporting our artists and protecting their creative freedom is paramount. We are pleased that the jury found in favor of Led Zeppelin, re-affirming the true origins of ‘Stairway to Heaven.’ Led Zeppelin is one of the greatest bands in history, and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant are peerless songwriters who created many of rock’s most influential and enduring songs.”
The suit was filed in 2014 by Michael Skidmore, the trustee of the Randy Craig Wolfe Trust, who asserted that the iconic riff was stolen from the 1968 Spirit song “Taurus.”
