Throughout the legacy of Led Zeppelin, the band produced several iconic songs like “Stairway to Heaven”, “Black Dog”, and “Whole Lotta Love.” And for Jimmy Page, he was there from the beginning. Helping form the band, the guitarist watched as Led Zeppelin sold over 300 million albums, landed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and was considered as influential as the Beatles. But with the good – comes the bad. While the band ended after the death of John Bonham, Page continues to find himself in legal trouble over the hit song “Dazed and Confused.”
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In 2010, a lawsuit was hurled at Page for copyright infringement over “Dazed and Confused” by Jake Holmes. For more than a few years, Holmes insisted he wrote the hit. The reason it ended up in Page’s hands, according to Holmes, was due to him hearing it when he opened for The Yardbirds at New York’s Greenwich Village. Declaring that Page transformed the song for Led Zeppelin without giving him credit, Holmes took it to the courts.
Finding common ground, Page and Holmes apparently agreed on a settlement. Although the terms of their agreement never surfaced, the song was listed as written by Page but inspired by Holmes.
Seeming to end the dispute, the past is once again coming back with a new case filed on May 5th. This time, Holmes claimed that Page was violating the agreement by not giving him credit and not paying him. The new suit comes after the song was part of the new documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin.
‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ Could Land Jimmy Page Back In Court
Looking at the case, Holmes’ lawyer wrote, “By falsely claiming that the Holmes composition is the Page composition, … Page [and others] have willfully infringed the Holmes composition. Defendants…have ignored plaintiff’s cease and desist demand and continue to infringe.”
Released back in February, Becoming Led Zeppelin showed what it was like to be part of one of the top rock bands in music history. But to Holmes, it was just another slap in the face as it showed footage of the song being performed on stage.
Just filed yesterday, it’s unclear just how far the suit will go, but for Holmes and his lawyer, they remained insistent that “Defendants have thus committed multiple acts of willful infringement by continuing to use the Holmes composition without authorization.”
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame )
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