LedZepNews is campaigning for the release of more than 1,100 pages of legal filings that contain unseen information about the writing of “Stairway To Heaven”.

In the lead up to the 2016 copyright trial in a Central District of California court over “Stairway To Heaven”, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones sat for deposition hearings in which they discussed in detail how they wrote the song and the creative process within Led Zeppelin.

Transcripts of the three hearings were filed as part of the court case but remain under seal, preventing the public from reading even a single page of them.

Page, Plant and Jones also spoke in court during the trial and transcripts of those comments have been released to the public. In our analysis of those transcripts, we found that the members of Led Zeppelin gave valuable context on the creation of “Stairway To Heaven”.

“That particular evening, I sat with Jimmy by the fire, and he began playing,” Plant said in court during the 2016 trial, “and I had this little couplet lyrically that, if you like, in tempo, fitted into what he was playing. So I just started developing that into two lines, then four lines, and then on, slowly, opening it up.”

It’s highly likely that the sealed deposition transcripts contain further newsworthy information about Led Zeppelin’s creative process and similarly vivid recollections of the creation of “Stairway To Heaven”.

References made during the 2016 trial to the three sealed deposition transcripts show they extend to more than 1,100 pages and contain the surviving members of Led Zeppelin recalling their songwriting process, including the creation of “Stairway To Heaven”.

Other topics discussed in the transcripts include the band members’ responses to allegations that Led Zeppelin stole music from other artists and comments on alleged drug consumption by the band members, references made to the transcripts during the trial show.

The entirety of each of the three deposition transcripts was marked as either “confidential” or “highly confidential” by Led Zeppelin’s lawyers, leading to them being filed under seal. Despite this, there is a general principle of a public right to court documents which has led to US judges frequently unsealing documents including sealed deposition transcripts in the past.

LedZepNews has spoken to multiple First Amendment organisations who have generously provided us with informal guidance. Every advisor and attorney we’ve spoken to agreed that there is a clear legal precedent for the “Stairway To Heaven” deposition transcripts to be unsealed, at least in part with appropriate redactions made to remove any confidential or sensitive passages.

In August, LedZepNews sent an informal request to Judge R. Gary Klausner, the judge who presided over the 2016 trial, asking him to unseal the deposition transcripts. Our request was rejected in less than an hour, with the judge’s clerk alleging that it was “inappropriate” for us to have sent the request to the judge.

Beginning a campaign to unseal legal filings with an informal request to a judge is a widely used journalistic practice utilised by publications such as The New York Times. LedZepNews refutes the allegation that our request was in any way “inappropriate”. The informal request sent to the judge’s clerk by LedZepNews can be read in full at the bottom of this article.

The judge’s clerk said in his response to our request that the judge would only consider a formal request filed with the court, leaving LedZepNews reliant on attorneys in California.

Following the rejection of our request, LedZepNews consulted multiple California attorneys. We’re yet to find a California attorney with pro bono capacity to file a request to unseal these records. We’ve even explored paying to hire an attorney to unseal the records, however the lowest fee we’ve been quoted is an eye-watering $10,000.

LedZepNews readers can help our campaign to unseal these records by connecting us with any attorneys in California willing to work on a pro bono or “low bono” basis to file a formal request to unseal these records. Anyone able to help with our campaign can contact LedZepNews on ledzepnews@gmail.com

Our hope is that we can persuade the judge or Led Zeppelin’s lawyers to agree to unseal these deposition transcripts, allowing LedZepNews to publish them online and to report on their contents.

LedZepNews has an extensive record of obtaining and publishing previously unseen documents relating to Led Zeppelin, including court filings and letters from US Senators regarding the Day on the Green 1977 violence, the New York Police Department files on the 1973 robbery of Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin’s full 1968 recording contract.

Below is the complete text of the informal request LedZepNews made to Judge Klausner via an email to his clerk on August 12:

Request: Unsealing of Skidmore vs Led Zeppelin et al transcripts

Dear Judge Klausner,

I write to request that you please consider, as a matter of public interest, partially unsealing three sealed deposition transcripts in the 2016 case Skidmore vs Led Zeppelin et al, case number 15-cv-03462 RGK.

I am a member of the news media, interested only in the newsworthy contents of three deposition transcripts relating to depositions made by James Patrick Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones in this case.

The sealed deposition transcripts are exhibits filed on March 8, 2016 alongside the “Declaration of Francis Malofiy in opposition to defendants’ motion for summary judgement or in the alternative, partial summary judgement”, identified as document 124 in the proceedings.

The deposition transcripts are titled “Malofiy Decl., Exhibit 1 – transcript of the deposition of James Patrick Page”, “Malofiy Decl., Exhibit 6 – transcript of the deposition of John Paul Jones” and “Malofiy Decl., Exhibit 7 – transcript of deposition of Robert Plant”.

The entire deposition transcripts were blanket designated by the defendants in this case as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL” pursuant to the Protective Order entered in this case and were thus filed under seal by the plaintiff.

The multiple references made to the three deposition transcripts during the proceedings in this case indicate they contain more than 1,100 pages in total, including newsworthy firsthand accounts by the members of Led Zeppelin of the writing of the song “Stairway To Heaven”, which was last year inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

I submit that a partial unsealment of these exhibits, with appropriate redactions to remove any confidential material, would further public understanding of the creation of this culturally significant piece of music and enhance the understanding of the evolution of copyright law following this case.

As you are no doubt aware, the case generated significant international media coverage. Indeed, it was noted during the trial of this case by an attorney for the defendants that the proceedings received “worldwide publicity” reaching “billions of people”, underscoring the public interest in and newsworthiness of these exhibits.

I further submit that the blanket designation of the entire contents of the three deposition transcripts as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL” limits public understanding of this case, restricting access by the media and wider public to exhibits relied upon and referenced repeatedly in this case.

I refer in this request to Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172 (2006) as a relevant case in which public access to judicial records was considered in the unsealing of deposition transcripts following the settlement of the case despite the establishment of a Protective Order during the proceedings.

Thank you for considering my request.