Led Zeppelin Wins Copyright Fight

It has been reported that Led Zeppelin has prevailed in a long-running copyright dispute over whether the U.K. rock band infringed Spirit’s “Taurus” to create “Stairway to Heaven.”

On Monday, March 9th, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s decision of no copyright infringement after a jury in 2016 handed Led Zeppelin a win. A 54-page decision will likely become a new standard in copyright infringement cases and may be presented to the Supreme Court.

Among other aspects of the decision, the Ninth Circuit determines it was not in error that the jury didn’t get to hear the “Taurus” sound recording at trial. Furthermore, the appeals court elects to ditch the “inverse ratio rule,” meaning the higher the degree of access to a work, the lower the bar for proving substantial similarity.

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