Justin Moyer, writing for The Washington Post:

Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” has faced a lot of accusations in the 45 years since it was released. It’s overplayed, some say, particularly at high volumes by dudes trying to impress other dudes at guitar shops. It’s overlong, say others. And, for years, people have said “Stairway” sounds a lot like “Taurus” — a song by a much less famous band called Spirit who performed it allegedly while sharing bills with Zeppelin in the late 1960s.

and:

But after decades of gossip, members of Led Zeppelin — specifically, singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page, the writers of “Stairway” — will face a jury trial on May 10. The question: Did they copy at least some parts of their most famous song?

There’s a fine line between similar/influenced by and plagiarism.

Here’s a video that plays the intro to both songs so you can get a sense of what the dispute is all about.

I think the style is certainly similar, but there are many songs that use that descending root note pattern: Michelle by The Beatles, My Funny Valentine, lots of classical pieces.

Did Jimmy Page lift this opening and change it? Possibly. But the rest of the song is so different, so unique, I just don’t see this as Zep riding on the Spirit guitarist’s coattails.