Led Zeppelin was previously the target of a lawsuit that claimed the band’s iconic hit “Stairway To Heaven” was plagiarized from Spirit’s 1968 song, “Taurus.” The case was eventually dismissed by the US Supreme Court.
Now, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is the target of another lawsuit. He’s being sued by singer-songwriter Jake Holmes for improper writing credits of the band’s classic tune, “Dazed and Confused.”
Rolling Stone reports: “Holmes’ new copyright infringement suit alleges that he has not received proper credit or royalties for early versions of ‘Dazed and Confused’ performed by the Yardbirds, including a recording featured in the recent documentary, Becoming Led Zeppelin. Holmes claimed he sent a cease and desist to Page and the other defendants last month, but those letters have gone ignored, leading him to file the lawsuit.”
“As Holmes’ new lawsuit notes, over the past three years, several archival Yardbirds releases have come out that include some of those live recordings of ‘Dazed and Confused.’ Holmes alleges that these recordings have been falsely credited to Page and that, as such, he hasn’t received any royalties.”
“Additionally, Holmes argues that in Becoming Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin’s version of ‘Dazed and Confused’ is properly credited as “Written by Jimmy Page, inspired by Jake Holmes,” but the version by the Yardbirds is credited only as ‘Written by Jimmy Page.’”
