Lawyers have appealed a jury decision that cleared Led Zeppelin of accusations it lifted a riff from an obscure 1960s instrumental for the intro to its classic rock anthem "Stairway to Heaven."
At attorney for the trust of the late Randy Wolfe filed a notice of appeal last week in Los Angeles federal court.
The trust for Wolfe, better known as Randy California, failed to convince a jury last month that the British band swiped a passage to "Stairway" from a short work he recorded with his band Spirit in 1968.
The filing does not provide legal arguments for why the case should be reconsidered.
Trust attorneys complained after the verdict that the judge did not allow jurors to hear the recording of Spirit's "Taurus."
Instead, jurors had to rely on renditions from the sheet music because that is the copyright-protected work, though it differs from the band's recording.
Attorneys for Led Zeppelin and the other defendants, including their record label, are seeking close to $800,000 in legal and other fees from the trust because it failed to win.
A hearing on that matter is scheduled Aug. 8.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More