Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ to Be Scrutinized in Court in Copyright Case; New York Times, 6/5/16

Ben Sisario, New York Times; Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ to Be Scrutinized in Court in Copyright Case:

"Whatever happens with the Led Zeppelin trial, the industry is still trying to understand the effects of the “Blurred Lines” case, which is under appeal.

Matt Pincus, the chief executive of Songs Music Publishing, an independent publisher that works with current pop and hip-hop acts like the Weeknd and Desiigner, said his company was seeing far more claims of infringement now — most made privately, outside of court — than ever before. But the reasons were not clear, he said.

“It could be opportunism, because lawyers are smelling blood,” Mr. Pincus said. “But it could also be because we have moved to a real collaboration economy now, where pop records have multiple collaborators in a way that they didn’t five or six years ago.” Those collaborators may dispute credits or royalties after the fact."

Bad Times, Worse Times: Led Zeppelin Sued for Copyright Infringement; New York Times, 6/30/10

Dave Itzkoff, New York Times; Bad Times, Worse Times: Led Zeppelin Sued for Copyright Infringement:

"Led Zeppelin historians have chronicled the creation of that rock band’s early classic “Dazed and Confused” for so long it’s understandable if fans can no longer tell what’s true about its authorship. One thing is for certain: Jake Holmes, a folk singer who asserts he recorded a similar song, also called “Dazed and Confused,” in 1967, says that he is the song’s creator and has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Led Zeppelin and its guitarist, Jimmy Page, as well as the band’s record labels and Mr. Page’s publishing company.

According to court documents filed on Monday in United States District Court in California and reported by TMZ.com, lawyers for Mr. Holmes say his “Dazed and Confused” was first copyrighted in July 1967, and its copyright renewed in December 1995. The song was later covered by the Yardbirds, the blues-rock band in which Mr. Page performed before Led Zeppelin, and the Zeppelin song was recorded in 1968 and released on the band’s self-titled debut album in 1969. (The group broke up in 1980.)

Mr. Holmes’s suit says Mr. Page copied the song “without authorization or permission” and “knowingly and willfully” infringes on his copyrights. A management company listed for Mr. Page said it no longer represented him, and a press representative for Led Zeppelin at Atlantic Records did not immediately reply to a request for comment."

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/bad-times-worse-times-led-zeppelin-sued-for-copyright-infringement/?scp=3&sq=copyright&st=cse