CALIFORNIA - Ars Technica · MICHAEL SKIDMORE, efc., Plaintitïì vs. LED ZEPPELIN, et al,,...

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Peter J. Anderson, Esq., Cal. Bar No. 88891E-Ma i I : pia@,pianders'on. comLAW OFFIÕES OF PETER J. ANDERSON

ANTHONYJO WARNETVCHAPPELLPLANT, JOHN PAUL

MUSIC, INC., SUPERATLANTIC RECORD

HYPEING CORP

ENTERTAINMENT COMPANYMUSIC GROUP CORP.

MICHAEL SKIDMORE, efc.,

Plaintitïìvs.

LED ZEPPELIN, et al,,

Defendants.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTCENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

WESTERN DIVISIONCase No. 2:15-cv-03462 RGK (AGRX)

Helene Freeman. Esq.. admitted oro hac viceE-Mail : hfreernánlÐbhittipsnizei.comPHILIPS NIZER LI,P666 Fifth AvenueNew York, NY 10103-0084Tel: (212\ 977-9700Fax: 12ll\ 262-5152Attorhev í for De fendantsJAMES PATRICK PAGE, ROBERT ANTHONYPLANT and JOHN PAUL JONES

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DECLARATION OF JAMESPATRICK PAGE IN SUPPORT OFMOTION FOR SUMMARYJUDGMENT OR, IN THEALTERNATIVE, PARTIALSUMMARY JUDGMENTDate: March 28,2016Time: 9:00 a.m.

Courtroom of the HonorableR. Garv Klausner

United Statés District Judge

Case 2:15-cv-03462-RGK-AGR Document 97-2 Filed 02/25/16 of 6 Page ID #:1071

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DECLARATION OF JAMES PATRICK PAGEI, James Patrick Page, declare and state:

l. I am over the age of 18 and have personal knowledge of the followingfacts and could competently testi$ to those facts if called upon to do so.

2. I, along with Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and the late John Bonham,

were the members of the band LedZeppelin, formed in 1968.

3. The musical composition Stairway to Heaver? was created by Robert

Plant and me, independently and without knowledge of Taurus.

4, I composed the music to Stairway to Heaven with the intention to create

a long work, with multiple different parts, that would unfold with increasing

cornplexity and speed culminating in a guitar solo that was preceded by a distinct

fanfare, followed by the last verse concluding a climax to the song. Robert Plant

created the lyrics tlor Stairway to Heaven after my initial composition of the music,

when the song was worked on by the band members of Led Zeppelin in 1970 in

rehearsals for its recording. Stairtay îo Heavel? was recorded in December 1970 to

January 1971 in London, England, and first performed by Led Zeppelin in March

l97l at Ulster Hall in Belfast, Northern lreland. The recording of ,Sra irway to Heaven

created in early l97l in London, England, was included in the Led Zeppelin album

usually referred to as LedZeppelin IV, in November 1971.

5. The beginning of Stairway to Heaven includes a descending chromatic

line chord progression and arpeggios, over which I played an ascending line. Iconsider descending chromatic lines and arpeggiated ohords basic skills learned by

any student of the guitar. Certainly, as a guitarist, I was aware of descending

chromatic lines and arpeggios long before 1968. For example, in 1960, I arranged for

a friend, Chris Farlowe, and his band the Thunderbirds to record a demo of the

composition Spring is Near along with other material.. Chris Farlowe did get a

recording contract. Spring is Near was not released. However, I still have the

pressing of the demo and provided it to my counsel for production in this case. The


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beginning of Spring is Near, recorded in 1960, is a guitar playing a descending

chromatic line chord progression.

6. Before 1968, I also was familiar with other songs that included a

descending line, such as songs by the Beatles and Cry Me a River by Davey Graharn.

Also, in 1964 a studio musician, Joe Moretti, introduced me to the song Chim Chím

Chiree and I liked the idea of music going at counterpoint and I used that and similar

ideas in my music. For example, as stated above, Stairway to Heavere has a

descending chromatic line over which there is also an ascending line, so that the music

is going in two different directions.

7, I performed as a session guitarist on recordings by a musical group called

Cartoone for their album of the same name. That album includes a song titled /ce

Cream Dreams, which also begins with a guitar playing a descending line. I

participated in that recording as a session guitarist in the fall of 1968, before Led

Zeppelin went to the U.S. in December 1968.

8. Prior to hearing a recording of Tauras in 2014 in connection with this

matter, I had never heard Taurus or even heard of it. I am very good at remembering

music and am absolutely certain that I never heard Taurus until 2014.

9, I do not recall ever seeing Spirit perfonn live. Again, though, I am

absolutely certain I never heard them, or anyone else, perform Taurus,

10. Led Zeppelin and the band Spirit never performed together and were

never on the same stage at the same time.

I l. To the best of my knowledge based on the information presently

available to rne, the only occasions when Led Zeppelin performed at the same venue

on the same date on which Spirit was scheduled to perform were: the Auditorium

Arena in Denver, Colorado, on December 26, 1968, the Atlanta International Pop

Festival at the Atlanta Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 5, 1969 and the Seattle

Pop Festival in Woodinville, Washington, on July 27,1969. The latter two events

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were outdoor festivals over two or three days with approximately 20 to 40 bands or

individual peforrners and ten or rnore of them performing each day.

12. Led Zeppelin's first U.S. performance was the concert in Denver,

Colorado, the day after Christmas in 1968. I understand that Spirit also performed

that night, but I did not see or hear Spirit's performance.

13. I have no personal knowledge of whether Spirit performed at the festivals

in Atlanta, Georgia, or Vy'oodinville, rWashington, and, if it did, when in the course ofthe day it performed, as I have no recollection of seeing them perform.

14. Generally, in my experience, when bands played on the same bill, each

band or performer used their own guitars, amplifiers, keyboards, drums and other

equiprnent. In between performances, their respective road crews would set up or

dismantle and remove their equipment, and that generally took anywhere from l5 to20 minutes depending on the extent of the equipment.

15. In rny experience, the set-up interval between bands meant that we did

not encounter any other bands entering or leaving the stage.

16. I understand Mark Andes testified that he was introduced to the members

of Led Zeppelin at the concert in Denver in 1968 by Toby Roberts, who he stated had

leased an airplane we were then using. In December 1968, we did not know Toby

Roberts, did not lease a plane from hirn and to the best of my knowledge he was not

involved in our tour. Led Zeppelin did not lease an airplane for use in touring until

1973,long after the concert in Denver in December 1968.

17, Before Led Zeppelin's first performance in the United States in

December 1968, Led Zeppelin performed live concerts in England and Scandinavia

that included Led Zeppelin's performance of the song As Long As I Have You as a

medley that included a short bass riff sirnilar to the bass riff in the song Fresh

Garbage. I had heard Fresh Garbage on the radio in England before Led Zeppelin

first toured in the United States.

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18. I purchased a Sonic Vy'ave, a Theremin-type devise, in Los Angeles

before LedZeppelin was formed, while I was a member of the Yardbirds. I purchased

the Sonic Wave after Jeff Beck told me that Brian Wilson used a Theremin in the 1966

song Good Vibrations and on tour.

19. I have several thousand albums of many different kinds. They include

albums I purchased, albums people gave me and albums that were simply left at my

home. Also, like a book collector who never gets around to reading books they

collect, I have never listened to many of the albums.

20. In connection with this litigation, I discovered a copy of Spirit's first

album in my record collection. I had not previously seen it in my collection and do not

know how or when it got there. It may well have been left by a guest. I doubt it was

there for long, since I never noticed it before. But, again, I know I did not hear Taurus

until 2014.

21. In the over four decades since the l97I release of Led Zeppelin IV and

Stairway to Heaven, documents have been lost or stolen. For example, portions of the

music recorded during the creation of ,Srairway to Heaven that were made at Headley

Grange in 1970 are gone. They were stolen from my home at some time in the 1980's,

and in later years copies of the stolen recordings have turned up for sale on bootleg

recordings. I have had to purchase bootleg recordings in order to try to recover what

was stolen and those recordings I recovered have been produced in this action.

However, other recordings remain missing, and with the passage of time documents,

such as concert contracts, set lists, and travel documentation, have been lost or

discarded.

22. Also, and unfortunately, rnany people have passed away since 197l,including John Bonham, who died in 1980, Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin's personal

manager and who attended many of its concerts) in 1995 and Andy Johns (the

engineer for the recording of Stairway to Heaven) in 2013.

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f dcol¡re undor pcnalty of perjury undor tho laws of the Unit€d Statcs ofAmcisa tbat thc fortgoing is il¡e aud corroct. Exofl¡ted on Febnrary 24,20t6.

JAMES P

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CALIFORNIA - Ars Technica · MICHAEL SKIDMORE, efc., Plaintitïì vs. LED ZEPPELIN, et al,,...

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