The attendance by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant at their upcoming copyright infringement case in California has become a major point of contention in the run-up to the June 14th trial.
The two Led Zeppelin members are accused of ripping off Spirit’s song “Taurus,” written by the late Randy California (whose real name is Randy Wolfe), for the intro section of “Stairway to Heaven.” They are being sued by his estate.
Yesterday (Tuesday), the plaintiff’s lawyers filed a motion with trial judge R. Gary Klausner to compel the two to be in court when the trial gets going. Lawyers for Plant and Page have said they plan to appear voluntarily, but aren’t able to guarantee their arrival time, because they’re flying in from England. But the Wolfe estate’s attorneys feel that isn’t sufficient, since they have only 10 hours on that one day to present their case.
The estate’s attorney is also trying to get the judge to allow him to use testimony from depositions in the actual trial. The judge has yet to rule on either motion. (Hollywood Reporter).