Robert Plant, john Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Jason Bonham arrive on the red carpet at the 'Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day' premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City on October 9, 2012. UPI/John Angelillo | License Photo

Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page attends a stage greeting for the film "Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day" in Tokyo, Japan, on October 16, 2012. UPI/Keizo Mori | License Photo

The lawsuit claims Led Zeppelin stole the song "Stairway to Heaven" from a band called Spirit. UPI/Mike Theiler | License Photo

NEW YORK, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- A lawsuit claiming Led Zeppelin plagiarized "Stairway to Heaven" moved forward after a move for dismissal failed.

The suit claims the band stole the song from Randy Craig Wolfe -- aka Randy California -- founder of the band Spirit. Now his heirs are suing for credit and royalties to the iconic rock song.


"What happened to Randy California and Spirit is wrong. Led Zeppelin needs to do the right thing and give credit where credit is due. Randy California deserves writing credit for "Stairway to Heaven" and to take his place as an author of Rock's greatest song," said the plaintiffs in their complaint.

The representation for Led Zeppelin challenged the suit, saying Pennsylvania courts had no jurisdiction in the matter.

"The individual defendants are British citizens residing in England, own no property in Pennsylvania and have no contacts with Pennsylvania, let alone ties sufficient to render them essentially at home here," they wrote in a memorandum to dismiss.

U.S. District Court Judge Juan Sanchez denied the motion to dismiss without prejudice, opening the door for Led Zeppelin's attorneys to ask for dismissal again.