Led Zeppelin film sparks new 'Dazed and Confused' lawsuit controversy
7 May 2025, 12:55
Led Zeppelin's new documentary opens up an old can of worms.
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Led Zeppelin were well-known for "borrowing" from folk and blues artists that came before them, especially on their earlier albums.
In the years since those records' original release, a lot of lawsuits, settlements and tweaked credits have smoothed things over between the band and the artists they had been heavily inspired by.
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That included Led Zeppelin's massive 'Dazed and Confused', which was based on a song originally written, performed, recorded and released by American folk artist Jake Holmes.
The song was reworked with a new vocal melody line and lyrics by Jimmy Page when he was still in The Yardbirds and was retained by the guitarist when he formed Led Zeppelin.
After an out of court settlement in 2011, credit on the song on the Led Zeppelin album was changed to "Jimmy Page, inspired by Jake Holmes".
Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused (Live at The Royal Albert Hall 1970) [Official Video]
But the release of new documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin has resparked the legal battle.
In the film, the Led Zeppelin version of the song is credited to "Jimmy Page, inspired by Jake Holmes", but the Yardbirds version is credited solely to Page.
Additionally, recent years have seen a number of archival Yardbirds audio releases that are similarly credited.
Dazed and Confused
"The Yardbirds performance of 'Dazed and Confused' in the film is a performance of the Holmes composition," reads the lawsuit, quoted by Rolling Stone.
"Defendants have thus committed multiple acts of wilful infringement by continuing to use the Holmes Composition without authorisation and in the face of both specific knowledge of Plaintiff's rights and Plaintff's cease and desist demand."
The magazine didn't get a reply after contacting Page's lawyer.
