FILE - In this Oct. 9, 2012 file photo, members of Led Zeppelin, guitarist Jimmy Page, left, and singer Robert Plant appear at a press conference ahead of the worldwide theatrical release of "Celebration... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Oct. 9, 2012 file photo, members of Led Zeppelin, guitarist Jimmy Page, left, and singer Robert Plant appear at a press conference ahead of the worldwide theatrical release of "Celebration... (Associated Press) 
 
 LOS ANGELES (AP) — A trial is needed to determine if Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" copies its opening notes from a song performed by the rock band Spirit, a federal judge has ruled. 
 
 U.S District Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled Friday that lawyers for the trustee of late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe had shown enough evidence to support a case that "Stairway to Heaven" copies music from the Spirit song "Taurus." 
 
 "Taurus" was written by Wolfe in either 1966 or 1967, years before Led Zeppelin released "Stairway to Heaven" in 1971. Klausner wrote that while the songs have some differences, lawyers for Wolfe's trustee may be able to prove they are substantially similar. 
 
 Led Zeppelin and Spirit performed at some concerts and festivals around the same time, but not on the same stage. Klausner wrote that the evidence presented so far represented a circumstantial case that Led Zeppelin may have heard "Taurus" performed before "Stairway to Heaven" was created. 
 
 After-hours phone and email messages sent to Helene M. Freeman, Led Zeppelin's attorney, were not immediately returned. Experts hired by the band contend both "Stairway to Heaven" and "Taurus" use notes that have been used in music for centuries. 
 
 Francis Alexander Malofiy, attorney for Wolfe's trustee Michael Skidmore, praised the ruling. He said while many copyright cases are an uphill battle, Klausner's ruling brings his client one step closer to getting Wolfe credit for helping create one of the most recognizable song introductions in rock history. 
 
 Skidmore was able to overcome statute-of-limitations hurdles to sue over "Stairway to Heaven" because the song was remastered and re-released in 2014. 
 
 A jury trial is scheduled for May 10 in Los Angeles. Klausner's ruling removed Zeppelin band member John Paul Jones from the case. Bandmates Robert Plant and Jimmy Page remain defendants in the case. 
 
 A trial would represent the third time in recent months that a Los Angeles federal jury has heard a copyright-infringement case involving a hit song. In March 2015, a jury found that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams had copied a Marvin Gaye song to create their 2013 hit, "Blurred Lines" and awarded Gaye's children $7.4 million. A judge trimmed the award, and the verdict is under appeal. 
 
 Later in the year, another jury was empaneled to determine whether the Jay-Z hit "Big Pimpin'" copied the work of an Egyptian composer, but a judge ruled in the rapper's favor before deliberations began. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP ||||| Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, two of Led Zeppelin’s founder members, arrived in court in Los Angeles on Tuesday to defend themselves against accusations that Stairway to Heaven, the band’s most famous song, was plagiarised. 
 
 The pair appeared at the opening of a trial in a federal court case prompted by allegations that the song was a copy of Taurus, composed by the late Randy Wolfe and recorded by his band Spirit. 
 
 A trustee for Wolfe - who died in 1997 and was also known as Randy California - claims the musician deserves a partial song-writing credit on Stairway To Heaven, the opening cords of which is alleged to be based on his composition. 
 
 Michael Skidmore, the trustee, is also claiming unspecified damages. 
 
 "No one owns common musical elements," defence lawyer Peter Anderson said in opening arguments for the copyright infringement trial in Los Angeles federal court. 
 
 Page, 72, and 67-year-old Plant - who cancelled a scheduled 19 June concert at London’s South Bank Centre to appear at the trial - cut very different figures from their fabled rock star images as they arrived in courtroom 850 of the Edward R Royal building in downtown Los Angeles. 
 
 Both men looked sombre in dark three-piece suits and had their trade-mark long hair tied back in pony tails. 
 
 They deny that Stairway To Heaven, which appeared on the 1971 Led Zeppelin IV album, was copied from Taurus, an instrumental song Wolfe composed when he was just 16. 
 
 They acknowledge opening for Spirit in a 1968 concert in Denver and appearing on the same billing with them on other occasions but insist they had very little interaction with the band. 
 
 Francis Alexander Malofiy, the lawyer representing Skidmore, told a jury in opening arguments the case centres on an infringement by Led Zeppelin of copyright law, which protects artistic creation. 
 
 "It gives credit to creation but it does not give credit to copying," Malofiy said. 
 
 Anderson said his side will present evidence showing neither Skidmore nor Wolfe's trust own the copyright to "Taurus." 
 
 Testimony in the case began with Janet Wolfe, sister of Randy Wolfe, who said her brother had written "Taurus" for his wife, Robin. 
 
 When asked if she and her brother had ever discussed "Stairway to Heaven," Janet Wolfe said yes. 
 
 "It was something that upset him for many, many years," she said. "I wanted him to do something about it." 
 
 Jay Ferguson, a former member of Spirit who later went on to write film and television scores, told the court that Taurus was "a real special moment" in the band's concerts because it contrasted with the other louder songs they were playing. 
 
 "It was beautiful. It was a different style of music than anything else we played in the show," he said. 
 
 Although it was often part of the group's typical concert set, it was not one of its"tent pole" songs, which it would be expected to play to generate record sales, he added. 
 
 Asked by Mr Malofiy if people had ever suggested to him that Taurus was similar to Stairway To Heaven, Mr Ferguson replied: "Quite often." 
 
 He recalled playing on the same bill as Led Zeppelin in three pop festivals in 1969 and briefly meeting Plant the following year when the singer turned up at a Spirit gig in Mothers club in Birmingham the following year. "We were flattered," he said.
– A trial is needed to determine if Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" copies its opening notes from a song performed by the rock band Spirit, a federal judge has ruled. US District Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled Friday that lawyers for the trustee of late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe had shown enough evidence to support a case that "Stairway to Heaven" copies music from the Spirit song "Taurus." "Taurus" was written by Wolfe in either 1966 or 1967, years before Led Zeppelin released "Stairway to Heaven" in 1971. Klausner wrote that while the songs have some differences, lawyers for Wolfe's trustee may be able to prove they are substantially similar, reports the AP. Led Zeppelin and Spirit performed at some concerts and festivals around the same time, but not on the same stage. Klausner wrote that the evidence presented so far represented a circumstantial case that Led Zeppelin may have heard "Taurus" performed before "Stairway to Heaven" was created. Experts hired by Led Zeppelin contend both songs use notes that have been used in music for centuries. The attorney for Wolfe's trustee, Michael Skidmore, praised the ruling, saying it brings his client one step closer to getting Wolfe credit for helping create one of the most recognizable song introductions in rock history. Skidmore was able to overcome statutes of limitations because "Stairway to Heaven" was remastered and re-released in 2014. A jury trial is set for May 10 in Los Angeles. (Click for 30 songs that are probably rip-offs.)