The history of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and the future of its profits rested yesterday with a Los Angeles jury, as deliberations began in the civil suit accusing Led Zeppelin of copying the opening to its classic song from a lesser-known band.

The copyright infringement trial has examined claims by the US rock band Spirit that Led Zeppelin lifted part of its 1968 song ‘Taurus’ in ‘Stairway to Heaven’, which was released in 1971.

The suit demanded US$40 million in damages and songwriting credit on 'Stairway to Heaven' potentially worth millions in future royalties.

In closing statements yesterday, Led Zeppelin lawyer Peter Anderson skewered the plaintiffs’ case, saying the similarities between the songs are elements common to many songs that date back hundreds of years, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

He said that Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe, whose estate’s trust brought the lawsuit, signed away the copyright to Taurus decades ago and that his trust thus had no standing to sue.

Attorney Francis Malofiy, who represents Wolfe’s trust, told the jury that the court had kept him from playing them records of the two songs - a slip that drew a reprimand from the judge.

Judge R Gary Klausner barred the sound recordings from the trial because US copyright law protects only sheet music, not sound recordings, for music made before 1976.

The restriction was the first of several high hurdles for Malofiy in presenting Spirit’s case.

During the trial, he claimed Led Zeppelin heard Taurus when the two bands played the same circuits in the late 1960s, and said similarities between the two songs make Stairway’s origin’s clear.

But evidence presented at trial failed to provide any substantive proof that the two bands shared a bill or that Led Zeppelin members had ever heard Taurus.

Surviving Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Robert Plant testified in the trial that they had no knowledge of Taurus and that Plant and Page wrote ‘Stairway to Heaven’ on their own.

Malofiy suggested to the jury that Led Zeppelin’s surviving members are “selectively mis-remembering things that happened many years ago,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.

If the jury finds that Led Zeppelin lifted Taurus’ riff, they will rewrite music history, giving Wolfe credit along with Page and Plant for one of rock’s most recognisable anthems.

It would not be the first time. Facing legal action, Led Zeppelin have over the years changed songwriting credits on some of their biggest hits, including ‘Dazed and Confused’, ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’.

- dpa