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A group of federal judges are not certain that all that glitters is gold, and they do not seem to believe that a new trial is needed in the battle for copyright around Led Zeppelin's song, "Stairway to Heaven".
Members of a group of 11 judges at a hearing on Monday at the US Court of Appeals 9th Circuit in San Francisco fiercely and consistently challenged plaintiffs' counsel who claimed that a new trial was justified and that jurors should be allowed to hear the recorded versions of their trials. the songs in the lawsuit that alleged the "Stairway" megahit of 1971 were stolen in 1968 "Taurus" by Spirit.
The estate of the late Randy Wolfe of Spirit was continued and lost during a lawsuit in 2016 that included testimonials from Led Zeppelin's guitarist, Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant, but a panel of three judges from the 9th Circuit plus Earlier this year ordered a new trial and Led Zeppelin appealed. the largest group of judges.
THE DISPUTE OF LED ZEPPELIN & # 39; FROM THE STAIR TO THE SKY & # 39; MAY RETURN TO THE TRIBUNAL
The verdict was rejected on the basis that the three judges unanimously declared that they were bad instructions that should have allowed the jurors to consider that combinations of simple elements in "Taurus" could be original and protected.
Monday's hearing was largely devoted to the argument of the plaintiffs' lawyer, Francis Malofiyy, that the composition of "Taurus" protected by copyright should include the song interpreted, not simply written on paper.
Several judges were skeptical.
"You have to get your sound recording to win, is not it?" Judge Andrew D. Hurwitz said. "You lose the case unless you do it – hundred times out of a hundred."
The version of the album "Taurus" is much more similar to "Stairway to Heaven" than the score, which according to Malofiy was a mediocre transcription.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SUPPORTS ZEPPELIN LED IN AUTHOR'S RIGHT OF ATTORNEY
LED ZEPPELIN IS PART OF THE SLIDING COPYRIGHT OF A STAIRCASE IN THE SKY
While the 1909 Copyright Act that covers "Taurus" protects the score as filed with the US Copyright Office, Malofiy stated that the case law allowed "to look for other evidence, the best evidence, better evidence "and that the recorded version of a song can be taken into consideration.
Some judges felt that he was trying to use a back door for the recording to be considered as part of the copyright and read at the trial.
"I ask you a question:" In your opinion, what work is entitled to the protection of copyright? "This should be simple," said Hurwitz, who often harassed Malofiy during the hearing and asked for yes or no answers when he thought the lawyer was evasive.
LED ZEPPELIN RIP OFF & # 39; STAIRS IN THE SKY & # 39; FROM ANOTHER SONG?
"I do not think it's sound recording that is protected by copyright, I think it's the embodied composition in the sound recording", has said Malofiy.
This prompted Judge M. Margaret McKeown to ask: "You want to take the sound recording and basically do the reverse engineering, what would be the score for the sound recording?"
Malofiy replied, "I think you could see things this way, yes."
The issue in dispute is the classic introduction riff of "Stairway to Heaven", which has been playing for almost 50 years in the guitar shop, which brings us to the opening words: "There is a woman who is sure , all that glitters is gold, Stairway to Heaven. "
Malofiy told the court that Page, who had written the riff, had stated that he was not even reading music. It is therefore ridiculous to simply consider the paper version of "Taurus".
JIMMY PAGE REFLECTS ON LED LEGACY ZEPPELIN
"Why do we look at this artificial analysis that has never occurred in the real world?" the lawyer said. "It's wrong, it's artificial, it's imaginary." What we know and what we've proven at the trial, is that Jimmy Page has five albums of Spirit in his collection of records. "
Led Zeppelin's lawyer, Peter Anderson, said Malofiy was trying to raise a completely new and irrelevant issue of sheet music and recordings.
"At no point in this case," said Anderson, "did the plaintiff ever claim that the copy of the deposit was a mistake."
The US government also weighed in on the issue alongside Led Zeppelin.
Government lawyer, Daniel Tenny, said at Monday's hearing that the "Taurus" registration could be considered under a more recent law on the right of 39 author, but that under the 1909 law, only partition was important.
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"Clearly, copyright holders have been informed … that you only get the protection you have filed," said Tenny.
Led Zeppelin's victory at the trial contrasts with other recent high-profile cases. At a lawsuit in 2015, jurors decided that Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" copied Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up," and a jury earlier this year had concluded that Katy Perry's tube " Dark Horse "had been copied from a Christian rap song.
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