Singer-songwriter Jake Holmes and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page have settled their latest copyright dispute over Dazed and Confused, according to a US court filing made on Friday (August 1).
The agreement “resolves the entire case” between the parties, though terms remain undisclosed.
Holmes had filed the lawsuit in California in May, alleging that Page violated a 2011 settlement agreement that acknowledged Holmes as the original composer of Dazed and Confused.
The complaint centered on recently released Yardbirds recordings and their inclusion in the documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin.
The latest legal action stemmed from Holmes’ claim that Page had released archival Yardbirds recordings featuring performances of the song without proper credit or compensation.
Holmes also objected to the song’s use in Sony Pictures’ documentary, where footage of Yardbirds performances was credited solely to Page rather than acknowledging Holmes’ original composition.
Holmes originally wrote and recorded Dazed and Confused in 1967 for his debut album The Above Ground Sound of Jake Holmes. Page’s band The Yardbirds adopted the song after Holmes opened for them at Greenwich Village’s Village Theater in August 1967. Page later reworked the composition for Led Zeppelin’s 1969 debut album.
The parties reached their first settlement in 2011 following Holmes’ initial copyright lawsuit filed in 2010.
That agreement resulted in Led Zeppelin releases crediting the song as “written by Jimmy Page, inspired by Jake Holmes”. However, Holmes contended that subsequent Yardbirds releases continued to credit Page exclusively, violating the earlier settlement terms.
According to the recent lawsuit, the 2011 settlement included Page’s acknowledgment that he had “no claim whatsoever to or with respect to the Holmes composition”.
Holmes sought $150,000 for each alleged instance of copyright infringement, naming Page, Warner Chappell Music, Sony Pictures, and the filmmakers behind Becoming Led Zeppelin as defendants.
The settlement notification filed by Holmes’ attorneys indicates that the parties are “in the process of finalizing a written settlement agreement” and expect to file a stipulated dismissal within 30 days.
Neither Page’s representatives nor the other defendants have provided public comment on the resolution.
This case represents the latest in a series of high-profile copyright disputes involving Led Zeppelin’s catalog, following previous litigation over Stairway to Heaven, where the band successfully defended against infringement claims in 2020.
The Stairway to Heaven case saw Led Zeppelin face allegations from Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe’s estate that the opening riff was stolen from Spirit’s 1968 song Taurus. After years of litigation, including appeals that reached the US Supreme Court, Led Zeppelin ultimately prevailed in March 2020 when the Supreme Court denied the final appeal, letting a 2016 jury verdict in favor of the band.
That victory also resulted in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturning a controversial copyright precedent known as the “inverse ratio rule,” a decision that benefited the broader music industryMusic Business Worldwide
