JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Stairway Lawsuit

Fair enough, John. But your reply told me that you would at least be curious enough to find out if indeed copyright laws were violated. If they were, I imagine you would proceed accordingly.

I also imagine that if the encroaching million-dollar-piece-of-music was considered "on the wire" but just barely NOT a violation, it might create a little rankle in your stoic demeanor?

And one reason to file a lawsuit, even if you were told you "just missed" a copyright violation is because the law is not written in cement but is simply a foundation from which unfolds a much footnoted history. IOW, judges can create precendence. Every generation brings with it new technologies and so old laws can need updating.

I imagine a majority of these cases start out with a feeling of betrayal. We hung out together and played music. You heard that song I wrote. Suddenly a part of it is on your album which went platinum. That can create animosity and unless you learn how to "let go" it can become something to obsess over. The fact that the artist who lifted your work made millions is just grease on the fire. Why should they be getting that money? It's my work, and they never even acknowledged that.,,such is the train of thought of a Randy California, I imagine, and I can empathize. I don't think I could rule for the plaintiff, though, unless I heard a believable narrative from Spirit as to why only now, is this an issue. It's not like they lived on another planet and only heard Stairway To Heaven once arriving on earth.

I DO think that if Page had owned what he did early on, we wouldn't be here. As I said, these things start with a feeling of betrayal or of feeling violated. There are stand-up comics who lift each others stuff, often just changing names and incidentals but leaving the mechanics intact.. But the real "stand-up" stand-ups ask first. Letterman relates a story how he was bombing night after night in Denver in the late Seventies..and so after a few nights he called his buddy comedian George Miller and said, "George, I'm stealing your act.."

I have completely different views, btw, when it comes to actual audio samples and sampling, as it's an art (which some do not acknowledge as such) and has a history not just of hip-hop/rap usage, but of pop collage artists like Beck, Momus, and others..but that's another train of thought for a different thread..

A link to the news story:

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture...tairway-heaven-copyright-lawsuit-n914831

Mike