stairway to heaven

Is the Supreme Court ready to make music history? One petitioner is giving nine justices of the high court such an opportunity while hardly being subtle about it. Here are the opening notes from a new cert petition: “It is fitting, perhaps, that the future of music copyright law be decided by a case about rock ‘n’ roll’s most iconic song, ‘Stairway to Heaven.’” The petition comes from Michael Skidmore, trustee for the Randy Craig Wolfe Trust — which is to say he’s representing an interest once belonging to Randy “California” Wolfe, singer-songwriter for the rock band Spirit. Wolfe authored a song “Taurus,” which many observers see as being extremely similar in structure to the opening of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.&#...