John,

It's the exact same chord progression for 3 bars of 4/4 at around 67 BPM (or 6 bars at 134BPM), played in the same style on the same solo instrument (at the start) by a band that as Marty mentioned toured with Led Zep before the latter "wrote" Stairway, so there is a case, here. That last fact is very important. An attorney could prove that Page heard Spirit's guitarist (Randy California?) playing that, night after night.

Another song that came out around that time (with an almost identical chord progression for a few bars) is Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4" but it's at different tempo played by a full band with a driving rock sound, so no one thinks about Stairway or Taurus when they hear it. "Time In A Bottle" also has the descending half-step at work, but is in a brisk 3/4 or 6/8 and has different inner melodies playing with, so no one thinks of "Time In A Bottle" as being like Stairway or Taurus.

To have a case, everything must be the same, or a jury can't be made to hear it, and it's really about what those folks think, right? Normal folks will tend to hear similar things as different, unless the presentation is really similar, and the chords, melody, tempo, et al..are exact..

Having said that, I'm not sure how I feel. There is definitely a case here, though.

Mike

Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 06/12/19 05:42 PM.
Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)