Judge orders new Stairway riff hearing
Led Zeppelin A US court has ordered a new trial in a lawsuit accusing Led Zeppelin of copying an obscure instrumental for the guitar riff on Stairway to Heaven.
Two years ago a federal court jury in Los Angeles found the band did not steal the intro from the song Taurus recorded by the US band Spirit in 1971.
But a three-judge panel in San Francisco ruled the lower court judge misled jurors about copyright law and the case has been returned for another trial.
Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the estate of the deceased Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe, filed the lawsuit against Led Zeppelin in 2015.
Jurors returned their verdict for the band after a five-day trial.