Thursday, April 14, 2016
Led Zeppelin 'Stairway To Heaven' Copyright Case Will Go To A Jury... Meaning Band Will Almost Certainly Lose
Techdirt: federal district court judge Gary Klausner rejected a variety of claims from Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Jimmy Page and said that the case needs to go to trial in front of a jury. That's going to make things difficult for Plant and Page. As with the Blurred Lines trial last year, you see that many people freak out when they hear two songs are pretty similar and assume that something wrong must have happened. Of course, that's not how copyright law is supposed to work, but alas, that's what years of the big legacy industries brainwashing the public on copyright has resulted in.
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After reading and commenting on an article about this a few weeks back, I'm glad to have an opportunity to follow this story as it unfolds. having listened to both of the contested tracks, and done a bit of previous research, I do believe that I have a good background with this case. With that in mind, I don't really have a stance when it comes to this case. With the ambiguity that 40 years brings, along with the characteristically murky nature of intellectual property, I'm just along for this ride. This isn't to say that I didn't find the decision to take this case to jury surprising, given the very expensive lawyers that Led Zeppelin no doubt has. I look forward to seeing how this case unfolds in the future, especially with the added complication of a jury. According to this article, the addition of a jury will make Led Zeppelin's case a lot harder to make. While I cannot vouch for the veracity of that statement, or even the gravitas of this article, I can say with absolute certainty that the upcoming legal battle is sure to be one to watch.
Cases like these are pointless and detrimental to the art of music. Music, like any other form of art, is dependent on the giving and taking of ideas and concepts between artists. If composers, songwriters and performers only had access to their own work, western music would be nowhere near as developed as it is currently. I argue that this development inherently requires interaction between multiple artists. This interaction involves listening to someone else’s music, internalizing it, and using it in your own, unique way. An artist can do this both consciously and subconsciously. I remember taking a music theory class in high school and composing my first assignment. It was a simple, 16-bar piece for tuba and French horn. After I presented it to the class, my teacher and I pointed out a measure that was VERY familiar, but we couldn’t place it. The point is, when you hear music, pieces of it become ingrained in your subconscious. Then, if you choose to write music, you draw upon everything that’s in that part of your brain for inspiration. The sad part about this case is that Led Zeppelin will probably lose, since there’s no way the plaintiff attorney will allow any musicians on the jury. If cases like this were the norm for the entire history of western music, there wouldn’t be a history of western music.
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