Robert Plant recently looked back at the band’s plagiarism lawsuit in 2014 and talked about what he went through in court. The successful singer stated that he had to sit down and be quiet for eight hours directly opposite the jury.
‘Stairway to Heaven’ is not only one of the most commercially successful songs of Led Zeppelin, but it also managed to gift worldwide recognition to the band. Composed by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, it was released in 1971, and even 50 years after its release, there are still demands to the radio stations from fans to play the song. The hit doesn’t seem to have a single ‘flaw’ in its writing or composition, but the problems it caused for the band were quite challenging.
Led Zeppelin was sued by the band Spirit for copyright infringement, as they claimed that they ripped off their song ‘Taurus.’ The band had opened for Spirit in 1968/1969, so it was apparent that they were exposed to the song multiple times. Although it is normal to be inspired, Spirit said this was blatant plagiarism.
Page and Plant attended the hearing and admitted that the song inspired them but stressed that they changed most of the composition. During the hearing, Plant was told to sit opposite the jury for eight hours and not look at anyone. He also couldn’t comment on the songs, which were the jury’s duty so, all he could do was sit down and wait for it to be over.
Here is what he stated about the hearing:
“What can you do? I just had to sit there, I was instructed to sit directly opposite the jury, don’t look at them but just don’t look at anybody, just sit there for eight hours. As much as I am musical, I cannot comment on anything musical. I just sing.”
You can watch the interview below.
