The lawsuit had been brought by the trustee for estate of the late Randy Wolfe, also known as Randy California, who was a guitarist in the band Spirit and composed its song “Taurus.” The trustee claimed that Plant and Page may have been inspired to write “Stairway to Heaven” after hearing Spirit perform while the bands toured together in the late sixties, but that Wolfe was never given credit.

The Los Angeles trial focused on whether Plant and Page had enough access to "Taurus" to have copied it and whether the songs were "substantially similar." The jury found that the trustee owned the 1967 copyright to "Taurus," which Led Zeppelin had disputed, and that Plant and Page had heard the song prior to the release of "Stairway to Heaven." But jurors concluded that the songs had no "substantial similarity."

‘Won on a technicality’

The trustee's lawyer, Francis Malofiy of Francis Alexander in Media, Pennsylvania, said that Led Zeppelin ‘won on a technicality,’ as the judge’s ruling not to allow him to play the album recording of "Taurus," which was in Page's record collection, and instead have an expert perform both songs based on the original sheet music, ‘tied our hands behind our back.’

He added: ‘The jury never heard the album recording of “Taurus” that Jimmy Page heard and used to create “Stairway to Heaven.” Instead it heard a very basic piece of sheet music that no one, including Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, had ever seen. It was an artificial comparison that bore little relation to the reality of the claim.’

‘Putting the matter behind us’

In a statement, Plant and Page said: ‘We are grateful for the jury's conscientious service and pleased that it has ruled in our favour, putting to rest questions about the origins of “Stairway to Heaven” and confirming what we have known for 45 years. … We appreciate our fans' support and look forward to putting this legal matter behind us.’

Sources: The National Law Journal; Rolling Stone