Plagiarism in Music: Did Led Zepellin Steal from Other Artists?

Given the recent appeal made by the Randy Craig Wolfe estate for the rights to Stairway to Heaven, I decided to share my two cents about the issue of plagiarism in music.  Fact is, copying musical themes and ideas is rampant – it’s almost impossible to write a completely original piece of music.  Even the best artists copy their predecessors in some way shape or form.  Indeed, we’re reminded of Pablo Picasso’s infamous quote, “Good artists copy, but great artists steal.”  

But there are ways to copy music that are blatant and there are ways to do it without being noticed.  Many times, as composers, we can’t help not being inspired or sparked by something that we’ve heard.  We hear a kernel of an idea, but then develop it as a variation. Many times, we can’t even tell the derivative work from the original.  That’s the ideal way to “copy” from other artists – not even being noticed.  

This video shows quite a few examples of how Led Zepellin stole ideas from other artists, only to claim that they wrote the music entirely themselves. I also show many other famous examples, some of which you may not even have realized that copying was going on.  Iraise the question as to whether plagiarism – even in its most well intended form – is unethical, and when does it actually take place.

In the case of Stairway to Heaven, as a composer and as a long time fan of Led Zepellin, the opening guitar part is clearly stolen from Spirit’s song called Taurus.  Other evidence, which I show in the video, also supports the thesis that Jimmy Page would never have written Stairwy to Heaven without having first heard Spirit’s music.  

You be the judge.  I’m curious to hear what you think.  Please leave a comment below when you get the chance.  Thank you for watching.

Here is a timeline of the video:

Intro 0:27Spirit Taurus vs Stairway to Heaven 1:32Spirit Taurus 9:55Joan Baez Babe I’m Gonna Leave You 10:55Jake Holmes Dazed and Confused 11:40Bert Jansch Black Waterside 13:53Bert Jansch The Waggoner’s Lad 14:43Pearl Jam Given to Fly 15:34The Chiffons He’s So Fine 16:39George Harrison My Sweet Lord 17:14Eric Carmen All By Myself 17:46Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor 19:09John Williams Star Wars theme 20:20Erich Wolfgang Korngold King’s Row 20:56John Williams Jaws 21:42Antonin Dvorak Symphony No.9 IV- Allegro con fuoco 22:04Billy Joel Uptown Girl 22:28Mozart 3rd Violin Concerto in G major, 2nd movement 23:07Billy Joel Just the Way You Are 24:0410cc I’m Not in Love 24:33Leonard Bernstein West Side Story’s Somewhere 25:45Beethoven Eroica Piano Concerto No.5 Eb major 27:03Jem They 28:46Johann Sebastian Bach Prelude in F minor from The Well-Tempered Clavier 29:44J.S. Bach Minuet in G major 30:52The Toys A Lover’s Concerto 32:27Concluding remarks on Derivative Works 33:36Here is a link to download a spreadsheet with YouTube video links to all the songs and pieces discussed in this video: https://bit.ly/2EKyzYEPlease support me by making a donation via PayPal at https://bit.ly/2PuyL2A Your contribution helps me produce more educational videos and original music for all!Here are all the songs mentioned in this video available for download on Amazon:Stairway to Heaven by Led ZeppelinBert Jansch – Best of Joan Baez – Babe I’m Gonna Leave You​Pearl Jam – Given to Fly​George Harrison – My Sweet Lord​The Chiffons – He’s So Fine​Eric Carmen – All By Myself​Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor​John Williams – Star Wars​Erich Wolfgang Korngold – King’s Row​Antonin Dvorak Symphony No.9​Billy Joel – Uptown Girl and Just the Way You Are​Mozart – 3rd Violin Concerto​10cc I’m Not in Love​Leonard Bernstein West Side Story (Somewhere)​Tschaikovsky Swan Lake​Jem They​Johann Sebastian Bach – Prelude in F minor from the Well-Tempered Klavier Volume 2​The Toys – A Lover’s Concerto​Bach Minuet in G major (actually it was written by Christian Petzold)

Fleetwood Mac Dreams

Ricky Molina/Lightmotif Denoument (free on SoundCloud)

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