It took Spirit more than 40 years to file suit over the song, which was written by their late guitarist Randy Wolfe (who used the stage name Randy California) because the group reportedly never had the money to pursue a court case.
The plaintiff in the case is Wolfe’s estate, which is represented by its trustee, Michael Skidmore. Also named in the suit, in addition to Plant and Page, are Atlantic Records, music publishers Warner Chappell Music and Rhino Records. Led Zep bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones is not named in the suit, but is expected to be called as a witness, as are three former members of Spirit.
The morning session was dedicated to jury selection. The eight-person panel includes four men and four women. A number of prospective jurors who said they were Led Zeppelin fans were dismissed, including one who said “Stairway to Heaven” was the first song he learned to play on guitar. Judge R. Gary Klausner told the jury he expects the case to take four or five days.
The afternoon saw opening statements from the attorneys for both Skidmore and Zeppelin. Skidmore’s lawyer, Francis Malofiy, said the evidence would prove that Led Zeppelin had ample access to and awareness of Spirit’s music before composing “Stairway to Heaven.” He then tried to show how the two are “substantially similar.”
Malofiy pointed to “ascending chromatic lines,” including a particularly unusual sequence of notes, that appear in both songs. He later showed synced videos of a session guitarist playing sheet music transcriptions of both “Taurus” by Spirit and “Stairway to Heaven” in order to highlight their similarities.
Led Zeppelin attorney Peter Anderson asked the jury to “keep an open mind” after hearing the songs played against one another, and to realize that nobody owns common musical elements, such as the “ascending chromatic lines” referred to by Skidmore’s team. He also intends to prove that Skidmore doesn’t even actually own the copyrights he is suing them over. Instead, he claims they’re owned by the publishing company run by producer and music business figure Lou Adler, head of Spirit’s former record label, Ode.
Two witnesses were called, Janet Wolfe, one of Randy Wolfe’s sisters, and former Spirit singer Jay Ferguson, who was still on the stand when the day’s session ended.