The justices also won't hear a lengthy dispute over the works of John Steinbeck. The U.S. Supreme Court won't be reviewing the closely followed copyright battle over whether Led Zeppelin infringed a composition to create "Stairway to Heaven." On Monday, the justices announced a long list of cases that wouldn't be reviewed. Michael Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin was among them.
Skidmore is the trustee for the Randy Craig Wolfe Trust who asserted the U.K. band had infringed Spirit's "Taurus." In 2016, Led Zeppelin prevailed at trial before the dispute made noise at an appellate level. In a petition, Skidmore asked the high court to determine whether copyright protection under an older law was limited to sheet music deposited with the U.S. Copyright Office.
That wasn't the only copyright case rejected today.
The justices also won't be taking up a fight to control the works of American author John Steinbeck. The case, which involved the issue of termination and even a planned Steven Spielberg remake of Grapes of Wrath, looks to be nearly over after decades in court.
The justices didn't offer any explanation why they weren't reviewing the cases. The move comes after the high court agreed on Friday to hear a dispute over media ownership rules.
Among cases still awaiting word of cert is National Football League v. Ninth Inning, which is an antitrust lawsuit over how football teams currently pool TV rights and then license an out-of-market package to DirecTV. The absence of this case from today's list may be notable.
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