One of the most genre defining bands, legendary English rockers Led Zeppelin have, in recent days been rocked by claims of plagiarism against arguably their most famous song ‘Stairway to Heaven’.

The case, roughly, is that the famous introduction of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ was copied by Led Zeppelin from ‘Spirit’ a band they toured with during the late 1960s. The claim is that ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and Spirit’s ‘Taurus’ are remarkably similar and especially given the amount of royalties that Led Zeppelin have gained from the song that some should be given to the estate of the late Randy California, who was lead guitarist of Spirit.

It’s not looking particularly good for Led Zeppelin as on April 8th a judge ruled that the songs were similar and that a trial with a jury will be the next step in investigating.

The judge had this to say on the matter:

“While it is true that a descending chromatic four-chord progression is a common convention that abounds in the music industry, the similarities here transcend this core structure,” the judge ruled. “What remains is a subjective assessment of the ‘concept and feel’ of two works … a task no more suitable for a judge than for a jury.”

The trial of whether or not Robert Plant and Jimmy Page will be liable for copyright infringement will be on May 10th.

Listen to both songs below and decide for yourself how similar they are!