"Stairway to Heaven" vs "Taurus"

[Al Dente]

I'd like input from you musicologists out there.
 
Did Led Zeppelin ripoff Spirit? Maybe they ripped off Bach?
 
Similarities between several musical pieces: 

I don't think Jimmy Page copied anything specifically. I play guitar (badly), but I can think of many instances where chord patterns, phrasing, and fills are similar across songs. There are only so many notes to work with after all.

This lawyer dude does a little Rambling On about the specifics around musical copyright law, but if you skip to 4:10 you'll here him pick apart the notes in Led Zep's "Stairway to Heaven" and Spirit's "Taurus" as well as some other tunes. If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now.

[DonRocks]

I'd like input from you musicologists out there.

Did Led Zeppelin ripoff Spirit? Maybe they ripped off Bach?

I'm only *really* familiar with one album by Spirit (the one with "1984," "I Got A Line On You," "Mr. Skin," etc.) - Greatest Hits maybe?

However, I was just thinking about almost exactly this same thing just two days ago.

Picture a bow tie, and read it left-to-right.

Everything to the left of the knot is music written before Bach.

The knot is Bach.

Everything to the right of the knot is music written after Bach.

Bach was a funnel through which all Western music traveled, and from which all Western music emerged.