Court agrees to listen to Led Zeppelin in 'Stairway' appeal

SAN FRANCISCO — "Stairway to Heaven" will get another hearing, this time to a packed house.

A panel of eleven judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed Monday to hear Led Zeppelin's appeal in a copyright lawsuit alleging the group stole its 1971 rock epic from a 1960s instrumental.

In a 2016 trial, a jury found that Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant had not taken "Stairway to Heaven" from the song "Taurus" by the band Spirit.

But in September, a three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit ruled unanimously that the trial judge had failed to advise the jury properly, and ordered a new trial.

Led Zeppelin's lawyers appealed, asking for the larger group of judges to rehear the case. The court plans to hear the appeal in September.