Robert Plant

Pencil Portrait by Antonio Bosano.

Robert Plant Pencil Portrait
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The quality of the prints are at a much higher level compared to the image shown on the left.

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A3 Pencil Print-Price £20.00-Purchase

A4 Pencil Print-Price £15.00-Purchase

*Limited edition run of 250 prints only*

All Pencil Prints are printed on the finest Bockingford Somerset Velvet 255 gsm paper.

P&P is not included in the above prices.

Comments

It’s hard for musicians to make money these days, given the drain of file-sharing and the lousy wages of streaming. But an increasing number of artists have found another way to generate funds: lawsuits against each other.

In the past few years, a rash of high-profile legal actions have been launched by stars, or their estates, over copyright infringement. Artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Sam Smith & Robin Thicke have each stood accused of stealing sounds from other musicians in their songs, forcing them either to wage costly court battles or to settle the suits privately for undisclosed sums. Ed Sheeran is another star under close scrutiny.

The latest and most hotly anticipated case of 2016 was an extremely worrying one.

It pitted the estate of one member of the 60s psychedelic rock band Spirit against the lead writers of Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. The suit contended that the Brit-rockers lifted a portion of a 1968 instrumental by Spirit, called Taurus, for the opening chords of their 1971 FM radio classic “Stairway To Heaven.” The real concern here was clear. Whereas, virtually all copyright infringement cases had previously focused on a song’s melodic content, this case took us into the murkier world of arrangements and instrumentation. It was potentially a can of worms that once opened, could not be closed.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jimmy-page-testifies-as-stairway-to-heaven-spirit-trial-heats-up-20160616

In the history of rock music, there are umpteen examples of memorable arrangements that have supported insubstantial melodies. Bill Wyman never received a songwriting credit for “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” despite that instantly recognisable opening riff being his. Whilst Jagger and Richards would maintain their resolute grip on the Stones’ songwriting empire, their bass player was left to fester.

When Bright Tunes sued George Harrison for copyright infringement in the “He’s so fine”/“My Sweet Lord” case, the judge found against the ex-Beatle, despite his summation including the infamous comment “Well I like both songs!” The plagiarism was deemed subconscious; Harrison’s assertion that the inspiration had come from the Edwin Hawkins Singers’ recording of “Oh Happy Day” all too obvious to anyone with ears . Whilst the Chiffons disc was rather twee and all ‘juvenile pop,’ “My Sweet Lord” was a great record with superior production values. Harrison was clearly not embittered by the experience, for when Paul Weller lifted his arrangement on The Beatles “Taxman” – and in particular its use of the D dominant seventh sharp nine chord – for the Jam’s 1980 hit “Start!”, he did nothing.

In the end, it comes back down to money. Harrison had originally given “My Sweet Lord” to fellow Apple artist Billy Preston. His single release did nothing in the charts but six months later when the former Beatle was number one around the world with his own version, Bright Tunes moved quickly with their infringement claim.

Recommended listening

Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

Surfing

Led Zeppelin

http://www.ledzeppelin.com/

Robert Plant - Official Website

http://www.robertplant.com/

Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand

http://www.led-zeppelin.org/