Led Zeppelin can't get 'Stairway' defense fees

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge has denied Led Zeppelin nearly $800,000 in legal fees and other costs in its defense against claims it stole a riff for the intro to "Stairway to Heaven."

Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled Monday in Los Angeles federal court that the lawsuit against the band was not frivolous and they were not entitled to recoup their costs.

The trust for the late Randy Wolfe failed to prove Led Zeppelin's songwriters lifted a passage from an obscure instrumental tune he wrote in the late 1960s.

A jury found guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant did not violate Wolfe's copyright to the song "Taurus" because it wasn't similar enough to "Stairway."

Led Zeppelin attorneys said they deserved legal fees because they won and to deter frivolous litigation.