Case 2:15-cv-03462-RGK-AGR Document 97-3 Filed 02/25/16 Page 1 of 4 Page ID #:1077

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Peter J. Anderson, Esq., Cal. Bar No. 88891
E-Mail: pja@pjanderson.com
LAW OFFICES OF PETER J. ANDERSON
A Professional Corporation
100 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 2010
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Tel: (310) 260-6030
Fax: (310) 260-6040
Attorneys for Defendants
JAMES PATRICK PAGE, ROBERT ANTHONY
PLANT, JOHN PAUL JONES, WARNER/CHAPPELL
MUSIC, INC., SUPER HYPE PUBLISHING, INC.,
ATLANTIC RECORDING CORP., RHINO
ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY and WARNER
MUSIC GROUP CORP.
Helene Freeman, Esq., admitted pro hac vice
E-Mail: hfreeman@phillipsnizer.com
PHILIPS NIZER LLP
666 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10103-0084
Tel: (212) 977-9700
Fax: (212) 262-5152
Attorneys for Defendants
JAMES PATRICK PAGE, ROBERT ANTHONY
PLANT and JOHN PAUL JONES

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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WESTERN DIVISION

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MICHAEL SKIDMORE, etc.,
Plaintiff,

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vs.
LED ZEPPELIN, et al.,
Defendants.

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Case No. 2:15-cv-03462 RGK (AGRx)
DECLARATION OF ROBERT
ANTHONY PLANT IN SUPPORT OF
MOTION FOR SUMMARY
JUDGMENT OR, IN THE
ALTERNATIVE, PARTIAL
SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Date: March 28, 2016
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Courtroom of the Honorable
R. Gary Klausner
United States District Judge

 Case 2:15-cv-03462-RGK-AGR Document 97-3 Filed 02/25/16 Page 2 of 4 Page ID #:1078

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DECLARATION OF ROBERT ANTHONY PLANT

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I, Robert Anthony Plant, declare and state:

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1.

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I am over the age of 18 and have personal knowledge of the following

facts and could competently testify to those facts if called upon to do so.
2.

I, along with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and the late John Bonham,

were the members of the band Led Zeppelin, formed in 1968.
3.

The musical composition Stairway to Heaven was created by Jimmy

Page and me, independently and without knowledge of Taurus.
4.

I first heard what would become the song Stairway to Heaven at Headley

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Grange in England in November 1970. Jimmy Page played on his guitar the music he

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had written. I wrote the lyrics to go with the Jimmy’s music for Stairway to Heaven

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while the song was worked on by the band in rehearsals for its recording. Stairway to

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Heaven was recorded in December 1970 to January 1971 in London, England. It was

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first performed at a Led Zeppelin concert in March 1971 at Ulster Hall in Belfast,

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Northern Ireland. The recording of Stairway to Heaven created in early 1971 in

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London, England, was included in the Led Zeppelin album usually referred to as Led

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Zeppelin IV, released in the United States in November 1971.

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5.

I have no recollection of hearing the song Taurus, either live or on a

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recording, prior to hearing a recording of Taurus in 2015 in connection with this

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matter. It has no lyrics and has nothing to do with my lyrics for Stairway to Heaven.

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6.

I do not recall ever seeing Spirit perform live.

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7.

Led Zeppelin and the band Spirit never performed together and were

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never on the same stage at the same time.
8.

To the best of my knowledge based on the information presently

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available to me, the only occasions when Led Zeppelin performed at the same venue

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on the same date on which Spirit was scheduled to perform were: the Auditorium

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Arena in Denver, Colorado, on December 26, 1968, the Atlanta International Pop

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Festival at the Atlanta Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 5, 1969 and the Seattle
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 Case 2:15-cv-03462-RGK-AGR Document 97-3 Filed 02/25/16 Page 3 of 4 Page ID #:1079

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Pop Festival in Woodinville, Washington, on July 27, 1969. The latter two events

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were outdoor festivals at which approximately 20 to 40 groups or peformers were

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scheduled to perform over two or three days.

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Led Zeppelin’s first U.S. performance was at the concert in Denver,

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Colorado, the day after Christmas in 1968, opening for Vanilla Fudge. I understand

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that Spirit also performed that night, but I do not recall seeing or hearing Spirit’s

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performance.

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10.

I have no personal knowledge of whether Spirit performed at the festivals

in Atlanta, Georgia, or Woodinville, Washington, and, if it did, when in the course of
the day it performed, as I have no recollection of seeing them perform.
11.

Mothers was a club near my home in England that was popular with

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musicians who lived nearby in the period 1968 through 1970. When I was home, I

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often met friends there. The club had a long room with a stage at one end and a bar at

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the other. I would meet friends at the bar. I have no recollection of seeing Spirit

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perform at Mothers.

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12.

I am advised that a member of Spirit claims that I went to a pub with him

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following their performance at Mothers. That is not possible. The pubs in England

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were required to close by 10 p.m., which is before the shows at Mothers typically

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ended. On January 31, 1970, I had a car accident returning from Mothers with my

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wife. She had been with me at the club and we were returning home together, having

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spent the evening with friends at the bar.

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13.

Before Led Zeppelin’s first performance in the United States in

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December 1968, Led Zeppelin performed live concerts in England and Scandinavia

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that included Led Zeppelin’s performance of the song As Long As I Have You in a

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medley with other songs. John Bonham and I had performed the song As Long As I

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Have You before we joined Led Zeppelin. John Paul Jones used a short bass riff,

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similar to the bass riff in the song Fresh Garbage, over which I sang other songs in the

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medley in Led Zeppelin’s earliest concert tours. At the time, I had a record album
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 Case Document 97-3 Filed 02/25/16 Page 4 of 4 Page ID #:1080

 

 

 

I entitled The Rock Machine Turns You On, which was a compilation of over a dozen
2 songs by different musical artists, that was sold in England in 1968 at a budget price.
3 One track of the album was the Spirit song Fresh Garbage. As a result, the song was
4 played on the radio in England before Led Zeppelin ?rst toured in the United States.
5 14. I do not now and have never owned a Spirit record album. I no longer
6 have my copy of The Rock Machine Turns You On.
7 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of
8 America that the foregoing is true and correct. Exe ute ebruary 25312016.
9 0*

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1 1 ROBERT