Heavenly victory: S.F. court clears Led Zeppelin in copyright case

The Led Zeppelin rock band won a copyright dispute over its iconic “Stairway to Heaven” song in a federal appeals court in San Francisco last week.

An 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled by a 9-2 vote March 9 that a short opening passage in the British band’s 1971 song did not violate the copyright of an earlier song written by the late guitarist Randy Wolfe for his band Spirit in 1967.