LOS ANGELES (AP) – Led Zeppelin’s lawyers asked a judge Monday to throw out a case accusing the band’s songwriters of ripping off a riff for “Stairway to Heaven.”
The estate of Randy Wolfe, founder of the band Spirit, failed to prove it owned the copyright to his 1968 song “Taurus” or that it was substantially similar to “Stairway,” attorney Peter Anderson said.
“Plaintiff rested and failed to carry his burden of proof on multiple issues,” Anderson wrote in a motion to dismiss.
U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner is expected hear arguments on the motion when the trial resumes Tuesday morning.
Wolfe’s estate claims that guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant incorporated a unique musical phrase from “Taurus” in the introduction to their 1971 rock epic.