Case 2:15-cv-03462-RGK-AGR Document 123 Filed 03/08/16 Page 1 of 7 Page ID #:2575

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Francis Malofiy, Esq.

Francis Alexander, LLC
280 N. Providence Rd. | Suite 105
Media, PA 19063
T: (215) 500-1000; F: (215) 500-1005
E: francis@francisalexander.com
Attorney for Plaintiff
Glen L. Kulik, Esq. (SBN 082170)
Kulik Gottesman & Siegel LLP
15303 Ventura Blvd., Suite 1400
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
T: (310) 557-9200; F: (310) 557-0224
E: gkulik@kgslaw.com
Attorney for Plaintiff

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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MICHAEL SKIDMORE, as Trustee for

the RANDY CRAIG WOLFE TRUST,
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v.

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Hon. R. Gary Klausner

Plaintiff,

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Case No. 15-cv-03462 RGK (AGRx)

LED ZEPPELIN; JAMES PATRICK

PAGE; ROBERT ANTHONY PLANT;
JOHN PAUL JONES; SUPER HYPE
PUBLISHING, INC.; WARNER MUSIC
GROUP CORP., Parent of
WARNER/CHAPPELL MUSIC, INC.;
ATLANTIC RECORDING
CORPORATION; RHINO
ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY,

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DECLARATION OF DENNY
SOMACH IN OPPOSITION TO
DEFENDANTS MOTION FOR
SUMMARY JUDGMENT OR IN
THE ALTERNATIVE, PARTIAL
SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Date: March 28, 2016
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Room:

Defendants.

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Case No. 15-cv-03462 RGK (AGRx)

DECLARATION OF DENNY SOMACH IN OPPOSITION TO

DEFENDANTS MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Case 2:15-cv-03462-RGK-AGR Document 123 Filed 03/08/16 Page 2 of 7 Page ID #:2576

DECLARATION OF DENNY SOMACH

I, Denny Somach, declare as follows:

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I have been retained as an expert in this case to provide an opinion of

the qualitative value of Stairway to Heaven to the band Led Zeppelin, and also the

public at large. As a historian and archivist of Led Zeppelin I have extensive

experience to address this subject matter.

2.

The song Stairway to Heaven occupies a unique spot in the history Led

Zeppelin. It is widely acknowledged as one of, if not the, greatest rock songs ever

written. Its importance to the band and the history of rock and roll cannot be

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understated.

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3.

I reviewed the following materials:

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Get the Led Out: How Led Zeppelin Became the Biggest Band in

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the World by Denny Somach

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Led Zeppelins Catalogue of Songs

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Various Songs Compared to Led Zeppelins Song, such as Dazed

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and Confused by Jake Holmes, Babe Im Gonna Leave You by

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Anne Bredon, etc.

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Wisdom from the Gods, John Bonham: Interview with Chris

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Welch, The Paul Green School of Rock Magazine, Fall 2006,

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originally in Melody Maker, John and Jason Bonham Issue, 1992.

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Todd Brabec, American Society of Composers, Authors, and

Publishers;

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Cameron Crowe, The Durable Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stone, March

1975;

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Led Zeppelin: The Complete Guide to Their Music, by Dave

Lewis;

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Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems and SoundScan;

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Recording Industry Association of America;

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Case No. 15-cv-03462 RGK (AGRx)

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DECLARATION OF DENNY SOMACH IN OPPOSITION TO
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Danny Strick, president, Sony/ATV Music Publishing;

Alan Wallis, executive director of valuation and business modeling,

Ernst & Young

Numerous books, articles, news pieces, and interviews

The case docket and filings

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Qualitative Importance of Stairway to Heaven to Led Zeppelin

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From my work and extensive experience as a historian, I can say that

Stairway to Heaven is one of the defining songs of rock and roll and that it is also

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Led Zeppelins signature song. Led Zeppelin released a total of 87 songs, but each

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song obviously holds different weight in the Zeppelin catalogue. The proportional

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weight of Stairway to Heaven is far more than most, if not all, of the rest of Led

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Zeppelins catalogue. It was the most popular song on Led Zeppelins most popular

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album, Led Zeppelin IV.

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5.

By almost any conceivable measure, Stairway to Heaven ranks as Led

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Zeppelins most important song. Stairway to Heaven was played at every Led

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Zeppelin show as the groups centerpiece, main-set grand finale, or encore. Despite

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never being released as a single, it went on to become the most requested song on

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American radio in history and is also widely regarded as the best-selling piece of

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sheet music in history. Phil Carson, an executive at Atlantic Records stated in an

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interview that Stairway to Heaven was the most played song in the history of

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rock radio. Get the Led Out, page 129. He also stated that he was absolutely

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riveted the first time he heard Jimmy Page playing the introductory notes to

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Stairway on the front lawn of Pages house. Get the Led Out, page 129. Upon being

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asked, How do audiences react when you play well- known Zeppelin songs?,

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John Bonham commented before his death:

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I dont know what would happen if we didnt play

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Stairway to Heaven, because its become one of the

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biggest things weve ever done. When Jimmy plays the first

chord in the States, its like instant bedlam, until Robert

comes in with the first line.

Wisdom from the Gods, John Bonham: Interview with Chris Welch, The Paul

Green School of Rock Magazine, Fall 2006, originally in Melody Maker, John and

Jason Bonham Issue, 1992. Jimmy Page told Rolling Stone in 1975 that Stairway

to Heaven was total brilliance and that: To me, I thought "Stairway" crystallized

the essence of the band. It had everything there and showed the band at its best ... as

a band, as a unit. Not talking about solos or anything, it had everything there. We

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were careful never to release it as a single. It was a milestone for us. Every

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musician wants to do something of lasting quality, something which will hold up

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for a long time and I guess we did it with Stairway. Cameron Crowe, The

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Durable Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stone, March 1975.

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6.

Bonham was merely acknowledging the obvious, Stairway to

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Heaven occupies a unique place in minds of rock and roll fans across the world.

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Famed rocker Alice Cooper told me, in an interview in Get the Led Out, when I

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asked him what Led Zeppelins best song was: Well, I think people will always

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say Stairway to Heaven is the song theyre known for more than anything else . . .

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. Get the Led Out, page 188. As many have likewise noted, it has become far more

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than just a song in popular culture. In terms of value over time, Stairway to Heaven

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has generated over half a billion dollars, with a Conde Nast Portfolio analyzing the

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value of the song at $562 million.

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7.

In terms of awards and achievements, Stairway to Heaven routinely

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ranks near the top of rock song lists across the world. For instance, Rolling Stone

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stated it was the 8th best guitar song of all time, while VH1 listed it as the 3rd best

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rock song ever. Radio stations routinely rank it as the number 1 Classic Rock song

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of all time. RIAA ranked it as the 53rd best song of the 20th Century. The

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significance of this piece of music, and the iconic introductory notes, are hard to
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overstate. Led Zeppelin also recognizes Stairway to Heavens iconic status, as it is

one of the most protected pieces of music in history having never to my knowledge

been licensed for commercial use or having appeared in a commercial, movie, or

television show.

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The popularity of Stairway to Heaven propelled Led Zeppelin IV to

sell almost 40 million albums, and, according to the RIAA website, it is the fourth

best-selling album of all time, and has gone platinum 23 times.

Comparisons of Led Zeppelins Work to Others

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During my time chronicling Led Zeppelins history, an unavoidable

aspect of Led Zeppelin has been the comparison of prior artists music to many
of Led Zeppelins songs which purportedly borrow from the previous pieces.

It is not my place in this report to comment on the veracity of those claims, but
it is common knowledge in music circles and among Led Zeppelin aficionados

that such comparisons have been made, including between Stairway to Heaven
and Taurus well before this lawsuit was filed on May 31, 2014.
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For instance, in an interview with Led Zeppelin biographer Mick

Wall, the use of other artists music by Led Zeppelin came up as a topic of

discussion. That interview is included in my above-referenced book Get the

Led Out. The similarities of Dazed and Confused, Whole Lotta Love,

Nobodys Fault but Mine, Bring it On Home, Gallows Pole, and even

Stairway to Heaven, to previous pieces by other artists are noted by Wall. I

also appeared on Howard Sterns radio show to discuss many of these
apparent similarities.
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Out of Led Zeppelins entire first album, I am aware of only one

song, Good Times Bad Times, to which comparisons have not been made

between Led Zeppelins music and that of previous, uncredited artists. The
song Babe, Im Gonna Leave You, has been compared to Babe Im Gonna
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Leave You by Anne Bredon--who was later credited on Led Zeppelins version

of the song. The song You Shook Me, has been compared to You Shook Me
by Willie Dixonan artist that Led Zeppelin was heavily influenced by. The

song Dazed and Confused, has been compared to Dazed and Confused by
Jake Holmes, who now has an inspired by credit on the Led Zeppelin song

following a lawsuit. The song Your Time Is Gonna Come, has been compared
to Dear Mr. Fantasy by Traffic. The song Black Mountain Side, has been
compared to Black Waterside, by Bert Jansch. The song Communication

Breakdown, has been compared to Nervous Breakdown by Eddie Cochran.

The song I Cant Quit You Baby, has been compared to I Cant Quit You Baby
by Willie Dixon. The song How Many More Times has been compared to
How Many More Years, by Howlin Wolf, another artist upon which Led

Zeppelin heavily relied. I incorporate by reference the audio clips that are
being submitted contemporaneous with the plaintiffs expert reports, or
identified above.
12.

To be clear, the notion that many Led Zeppelin songs can be

compared to previous songs and artists is not novel and is in fact well known
in the music, rock, and the Led Zeppelin fan communities.
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My compensation in this matter is $125 per hour and $250 per

hour for trial.

14.

Stairway to Heaven occupies a far more important spot in Led

Zeppelins catalogue than simply just another song. It was a bona fide cultural
phenomenon that propelled Led Zeppelin to previously unreachable levels of
fame in the rock and roll world, and which led the song itself to become the

most played song in history, valued at over half a billion dollars. Stairway to

Heaven qualitative importance to Led Zeppelin and the history of rock music is
perhaps greater than any song in history. I also note that many Led Zeppelin

songs, including Stairway to Heaven, have been compared to songs by previous

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Case No. 15-cv-03462 RGK (AGRx)

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artists. I make no judgment as to whether those claims are correct, except to

note that credit has been changed on several Led Zeppelin songs, such as

Dazed and Confused, and that those comparisons are well known in the music,
rock, and Led Zeppelin fan communities.
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professional certainty. I reserve the right to amend or supplement this report

as needed.
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them to write the piece of music. I am told that Jimmy Pages declaration states,

in part, as follows:

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

Chim Chim 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,

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Stairway to Heaven has a descending chromatic line over which there is

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also an ascending line, so that the music is going in two different

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directions.

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In all my years of researching and studying Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, and
other members of the band, never have I ever heard that Jimmy Page was

inspired by or influenced in any way by Chim Chim Chiree, Mary Poppins, Dick

Van Dyke, or Julie Andrews.

Executed this 7th day of March, 2016, at Palm Beach county, Florida.

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Led Zeppelin has been interviewed and questioned extensively on

the inspiration for Stairway to Heaven, how it was written, what influenced

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I told these opinions with a reasonable degree of historical and

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of
America that the foregoing is true and correct.

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/s/Denny Somach
Denny Somach

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Case No. 15-cv-03462 RGK (AGRx)

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DECLARATION OF DENNY SOMACH IN OPPOSITION TO
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