New trial ordered in ‘Stairway’ lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S. appeals court on Friday ordered a new trial in a lawsuit accusing Led Zeppelin of copying an obscure 1960s instrumental for the intro to its classic 1971 rock anthem “Stairway to Heaven.”

A federal court jury in Los Angeles two years ago found Led Zeppelin did not copy the famous riff from the song “Taurus” by the band Spirit. But the three- judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the lower court judge provided erroneous jury instructions. It sent the case back to the court for another trial.

A phone message left with an attorney for Led Zeppelin, Peter Anderson, was not immediately returned.

Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the estate of late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe, filed the suit against Led Zeppelin in 2015.

Jurors returned their ver- dict for Led Zeppelin after a five-day trial in which band members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant testified. Page and Plant, who wrote the “Stairway” lyrics, said their creation was an original.

The jury found “Stairway to Heaven” and “Taurus” were not substantially similar, according the 9th Circuit ruling.

But U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner failed to advise jurors that while individual elements of a song such as its notes or scale may not qualify for copy- right protection, a combination of those elements may if it is sufficiently original, 9th Circuit Judge Richard Paez said.

Klausner also wrongly told jurors that copyright does not protect chromatic scales, arpeggios or short sequences of three notes, the 9th Circuit panel found.

“This error was not harmless as it undercut testimony by Skidmore’s expert that Led Zeppelin copied a chromatic scale that had been used in an original manner,” Paez said.