Led Zeppelin in 'Stairway to Heaven' copyright trial

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant face a trial in the US in June Credit: PA

Video report by ITV News' Dan Rivers:

Led Zeppelin band members Robert Plant and Jimmy Page will go to trial over whether they stole the opening chords for their 1971 classic "Stairway to Heaven".

The pair will face a US jury over claims they ripped segments of 1967 instrumental "Taurus" by American rock group Spirit, The Guardian newspaper reports.

On Friday, a judge in Los Angeles ruled the songs were similar enough to let a jury decide whether Plant and Page were liable for copyright infringement.

Watch YouTuber TJR play extracts from both songs

The lawsuit was brought by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the late Randy Wolfe, also known as Randy California, who was Spirit’s guitarist and the composer of "Taurus".

Now a trial has been set for May 10.

The claimant says Page and Plant may have been inspired to write "Stairway to Heaven" after hearing Spirit perform "Taurus" while the bands toured together in 1968 and 1969, but that Wolfe never got credit.

"Stairway to Heaven" is a track on Led Zeppelin’s untitled fourth studio album, often referred to as Led Zeppelin IV.

Watch Led Zeppelin perform "Stairway to Heaven" in 1973