Led Zeppelin may have won the copyright war over their creation of Stairway To Heaven, but they lost its battle to recoup nearly 800,000 dollars (€721,000) in defence fees.

The guitar riff Led Zeppelin used in the 1971 classic ‘Stairway to Heaven’ differed substantially from one the English band was accused of stealing from the US group Spirit, a jury found in a copyright infringement trial in Los Angeles.

Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant did not plagiarise the song Taurus by the American band Spirit when they wrote Stairway To Heaven, a jury in Los Angeles has found.

Members of Led Zeppelin have appeared in court to face claims that they copied the famous opening guitar riff on their "iconic" song Stairway To Heaven.

Led Zeppelin’s lead singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page must face a US jury trial over whether they stole opening chords for their 1971 classic ‘Stairway to Heaven’.