The opening legal maneuver in the lawsuit against Led Zeppelin over the song Stairway to Heaven has gone against the band.
The lawsuit, which was filed by the family of the late Randy California (Randy Craig Wolfe) of Spirit, claims that Zeppelin used a significant part of the Spirit song Taurus in their composition Stairway to Heaven. Led Zeppelin opened for Spirit during 1968 and would have heard the song as part of those performances.
The lawyers for Zeppelin had stated in court that they didn’t feel that the courts of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania had jurisdiction to hear the case, saying that no members of the band owned property in the state nor any ties to any person in that area.
The lawyer for the family of California countered by stating the “Defendants are subject to specific jurisdiction in this district because they make millions of dollars from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by directly targeting this district for the exploitation of Stairway to Heaven through CD sales, digital downloading, radio and television play, advertising, marketing, concert performances, other performances, licensing, and otherwise targeting resident individuals and businesses to profit off the exploitation of Stairway to Heaven.”
U.S. District Court Judge Juan Sanchez ruled for the plaintiffs and against Led Zeppelin without specifics.
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