A copyright infringement lawsuit involving Led Zeppelin's song "Stairway to Heaven" is scheduled to begin today in Los Angeles.

The lawsuit alleges that the descending guitar opening of "Stairway" was lifted from the 1968 instrumental "Taurus," recorded by the long-defunct band Spirit.

The lawsuit was brought by a trustee for the late Randy Wolfe, who was Spirit's guitarist and the composer of "Taurus."

Senior editor of the Hollywood Reporter, Eriq Gardner said that there is a similarity.

"I think it's pretty easy to hear. If you hear certain versions of Spirit, you can unmistakably hear the opening bars of "Stairway to Heaven." I think most people can. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's copyright infringement, but most people, I believe, will hear the similarities, too, with proof of that being that over the decades people have brought this up before there was a lawsuit, so obviously there have been plenty of folks who spotted the similarities."

Led Zeppelin has said that Wolfe was a songwriter-for-hire who had no copyright claim, and that the chord progressions were so clichéd that they did not deserve copyright protection.

Fans will have an opportunity to make their own decision, while a jury will ultimately render theirs.