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The singer-songwriter Jake Holmes has a long-back dispute with Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin about the Avollage of the song “Dazed and Confused” revive again.
New lawsuit about Yardbirds version of “Dazed and Confused”
In his new lawsuit for copyright infringement, Holmes claims that for early versions of “Dazed and Confused”, which were listed by the Yardbirds, including a recording that in the recent documentation “Becoming Led Zeppelin“It can be heard, no adequate recognition or royalties. Holmes claimed that he sent Page and the other defendants a declaration of cease and desist last month. But these letters were ignored. What prompted him to submit the lawsuit.
Dispute: Admission in Becoming Led Zeppelin
Holmes wrote and recorded “Dazed and Confused” in 1967. And Page is said to have heard the song in August of the same year after the singer-songwriter in Greenwich Village had appeared as a supporting group for the Yardbirds.
The origins: Holmes’ original song from 1967
The title also appeared on Holmes’ album “The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes” from 1967. Soon afterwards, the Yardbirds worked out their own version of the song, which integrated them into their live appearances. Although they never recorded a correct studio version of “Dazed and Confused”, several live recordings were taken in 1967 and 1968.
Yardbirds adapted the composition live after a joint show
However, the song remained in Page. And he continued to work with Led Zeppelin. While Page wrote new texts for the song, the instrumental main melody – especially the famous descending reef – remained largely similar to that in Holmes’ original.
For years, Holmes declined to refuse Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused”. He is said to have even said: “I said, ‘What the hell, he should have him.'” But in 2010 he finally submitted a lawsuit for copyright violation against Page. And the case was finally settled out of court.
As part of the agreement, the songwriting credit for Led Zeppelin’s version of “Dazed and Confused” was changed in “Inspired by Jake Holmes”. Holmes kept the complete copyright in his original composition. But it is unclear whether the settlement stipulated how the Yardbirds recordings of “Dazed and Confused” must be loaned.
Yardbirds recordings ensure new escalation
As Holmes finds in his new lawsuit, have been in the past three years several archive publications of the Yardbirds Published that contain some of these live recordings of “Dazed and Confused”. Holmes claims that these recordings were incorrectly attributed to page. And therefore he didn’t get any royalties.
Archive publications with “false” copyright
In addition, Holmes argues that in “Becoming Led Zeppelin” the version of “Dazed and Confused” by Led Zeppelin is correctly given as “written by Jimmy Page, inspired by Jake Holmes”. While the version of the Yardbirds is only given as “written by Jimmy Page”.
New dimension in the decades -old dispute
“The performance of ‘Dazed and Confused’ by the Yardbirds in the film is a performance of the Holmes composition,” says the lawsuit. And further: “The defendants have therefore committed several intentional violations by using the Holmes composition without permission and despite the specific knowledge of the plaintiff’s rights and the plaintiff’s injunction.”
A Page lawyer did not immediately respond to the request from Rolling Stone To comment.