Spirit's recording of Taurus did not decide the copyright case against Led Zeppelin because the court had to compare the copyright-protected musical composition, not every detail of a recorded performance. Since Taurus had been registered as an unpublished musical work in 1967, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the 1909 Copyright Act confined the protected material to the one-page sheet-music deposit. The jury found that Led Zeppelin members had access to the work, but it did not find substantial similarity between protected elements of the compositions. The March 9, 2020 decision upheld the verdict for the band.
That does not mean the court ruled that musical influence between the tracks was impossible. It means the claimant did not establish the legal requirements for holding the defendants liable for infringement of that composition's copyright.
Where did the Taurus and Stairway to Heaven dispute come from?
Guitarist Randy Wolfe, also known as Randy California, wrote the instrumental Taurus in 1966 or 1967, before Spirit released it. In December 1967, publisher Hollenbeck Music registered the composition as unpublished, naming Wolfe as its author and filing one page of musical notation with the U.S. Copyright Office. The track also appeared on Spirit's debut album, released around the turn of 1967 and 1968. Stairway to Heaven, written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, appeared on Led Zeppelin's fourth album in 1971.
The bands appeared at some of the same events in the late 1960s, but the court's opinion noted that there was no direct evidence that Led Zeppelin members had heard a particular performance of Taurus on those occasions. Michael Skidmore, trustee of Wolfe's copyright interests, filed suit in 2014. The claim focused on the beginning of Stairway to Heaven and an eight-measure opening passage of the Taurus deposit copy, particularly a descending chromatic sequence.
Why did the deposited score matter more than Spirit's record?
A composition and a sound recording are legally distinct subject matter. The composition is the music created, including notes, rhythms, and original combinations that may be protected. A sound recording captures a specific performance, which may introduce tone, instrumentation, expressive nuances, and additions not shown in the score.
Under the law governing this registration, the 1909 Act allowed an unpublished composition to be registered by depositing a complete copy of the work. The court held that the deposit copy, the sheet music actually filed in 1967, defined the scope of the protected material. It was not merely illustrative paperwork that could be expanded by any arrangement heard on a record. The 1909 Act also did not establish a separate federal copyright in sound recordings. Later statutory changes, including federal protection introduced for certain recordings beginning in 1972 and the overhaul that took effect in 1978, did not retroactively enlarge the registration of the Taurus composition.
| Material | What it showed | Role in this case |
|---|---|---|
| 1967 deposit copy | The one-page musical notation registered for the Taurus composition. | Defined the protected expression for assessing substantial similarity. |
| Spirit's commercial recording | A performance with interpretive elements and potentially additional details. | Could be relevant to access, but could not enlarge the protected composition or serve as the benchmark for substantial similarity. |
| Performance or recording made from the score | An audible rendition of the notes in the deposited document. | Was used to present material from the score to the jury, and was not the same as Spirit's commercial recording. |
Was every recording banned from the trial?
No. It is important to distinguish Spirit's commercial recording from renditions that musicians made from the deposited score. The plaintiff wanted Taurus recordings played while Jimmy Page testified so jurors could observe his reaction and assess whether he might previously have encountered the work. The trial judge recognized their possible relevance to access, but found that playing those performances before the jury risked confusing that issue with substantial similarity. The judge therefore applied the evidence rule concerning unfair prejudice and confusion.
Page was allowed to hear recordings outside the jury's presence and was then questioned in court. He acknowledged possessing an album containing Taurus but denied knowing the track. Jurors also heard renditions based on the deposited score. During deliberations, they requested playback of the full version of that score. It would therefore be inaccurate to say that the court heard no audible version of Taurus.
In 2020, the Ninth Circuit explained why the dispute over playing the commercial recording to prove access could no longer change the outcome: the jury had already found that Page and Plant had access to the composition before Stairway to Heaven was created.
What did the jury examine and actually decide?
The case separated two questions that often get blurred when songs sound alike. First, was there an opportunity for exposure or copying, which includes the issue of access? Second, was there appropriation of protected musical expression sufficient to amount to infringement? A yes to the first question does not resolve the second.
In 2016, jurors found that Skidmore owned the copyright to Taurus and that Led Zeppelin members had access to the work. But they answered no to the question of substantial similarity under the extrinsic test, which objectively compares protected expressive elements. Because that first similarity test was not met, the jury never reached the intrinsic test, which considers the perspective of an ordinary observer.
The two sides' experts disagreed over the musical significance of descending notes, arpeggios, and short overlapping note sequences. The appellate court emphasized that chromatic scales and other basic building blocks do not become the exclusive property of one composer merely because they occur in a work. Original combinations can be protected, but infringement requires proof that protected expression was taken, not simply that familiar musical ingredients were shared.
How did the case move from 2016 to 2020?
- 1967: the unpublished Taurus composition was registered with a one-page deposit copy.
- 1971: Led Zeppelin released Stairway to Heaven.
- 2014: Michael Skidmore brought the copyright infringement action.
- 2016: the jury ruled for Led Zeppelin after finding no substantial similarity under the extrinsic test.
- September 28, 2018: a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel ordered a new trial over problems it identified in jury instructions. That was not the final disposition.
- June 10, 2019: the appeals court granted rehearing before an expanded en banc court, setting aside the panel decision.
- March 9, 2020: the en banc court affirmed the judgment for Led Zeppelin, upheld the deposit-copy limitation, and rejected the inverse ratio rule, which had lowered the similarity standard when access was strong.
- October 5, 2020: the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the petition. It also denied a subsequent rehearing request on December 7.
Some Ninth Circuit judges partially disagreed over instructions concerning the selection and arrangement of musical elements. Nonetheless, the majority's 2020 disposition upheld the judgment without ordering another trial. The Supreme Court's refusal to take the case was not a fresh assessment of the notes or recordings.
Did the court conclude there was no plagiarism?
The accurate formulation is that copyright infringement was not established under the legal standards applied in this litigation. A finding of access was not a finding of unlawful copying; a resemblance listeners might perceive between two phonograms did not suffice to show appropriation of the registered composition. The Taurus recording was not irrelevant for every purpose, but it could not replace the deposit copy when defining which elements were protected in this case.
