General Music Chat

Led Zeppelin won, mainly in my opinion because Taurus as played per the CHART did not sound the same as TAURUS as played on the record.. what do we learn from this as songwriters? is it wise to chart stuff out that might be misconstrued?

SOURCE: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/mu ... story.html

The way U.S. copyright law is structured, it’s not sound recordings that come under fire as the source of infringement, but the musical composition as detailed in sheet music.

In this case, filed by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the estate of Spirit guitarist and “Taurus” songwriter Randy Wolfe, better known by the nickname he was given by Jimi Hendrix, Randy California, jurors heard only re-creations of the sheet music as performed alternately on acoustic guitar and electric keyboard.

The lawyer for Wolfe’s estate, Francis Malofiy, tried without success to introduce Spirit’s recording of the song, and to get confirmation from Zeppelin guitarist and songwriter Jimmy Page that certain key elements of “Stairway” did not appear in what’s referred to in court as the “deposit copy” of the song he wrote in 1970 with singer Robert Plant.

The Wolfe estate also was barred from referencing previous instances where Led Zeppelin had to amend songwriting credits, split proceeds or otherwise settle cases of infringement brought against the band, limited by Klausner to establish only whether “Stairway” was “substantially similar” to “Taurus” as judged by ordinary listeners.

Much of the testimony from musical experts, therefore,

god, the similarities, but then again subtle differences?
Stairway- Taurus- Giovanni, Bach, Cartoone, Beck & Page
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlgqkno2hB8