A US Jury has ruled that Led Zeppelin did not base the opening chords of Stairway to Heaven on Spirit's 1967 song Taurus.
It was decided that the riff in dispute "was not intrinsically similar" to the opening of the US band's earlier recording.
Plant and Page said they were relieved to have "put to rest questions about [Stairway's] origins, confirming what we have known for 45 years".
"Something like that would stick in my mind. It was totally alien to me." - Jimmy Page
Three centuries of precedent
The duo's legal team's argument that the chord progression in question had been in widespread use for over 300 years ultimately proved conclusive in the case, which had been brought on behalf of Spirit's late guitarist, Randy Wolfe.
Page had earlier testified that he had never heard the song until a few years ago, when online comparison videos began to appear.
"I knew I had never heard that before," he said. "Something like that would stick in my mind. It was totally alien to me."
"When it started, I was confused by the comparison… [I thought], 'What's this got to do with Stairway?'"
