Jimmy Page Once Again Being Sued by Original “Dazed and Confused” Songwriter

Jimmy Page is once again facing litigation over Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused” from original songwriter Jake Holmes.

Holmes, 85, filed the motion for copyright infringement and breach of contract in California court on Monday (May 5th). He alleges that Page, music publisher Warner Chappell, and Sony Pictures violated his rights to “Dazed and Confused” due to the release of new early live recordings of the song, plus its feature in the documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin documentary, without paying or crediting him.

Holmes originally wrote “Dazed and Confused” in 1967, and the singer-songwriter toured as support for Pages’ first band, The Yardbirds, during the decade. The Yardbirds would eventually craft their own version of the song before Page and Led Zeppelin reworked it for their self-titled debut album.

In 2010, Holmes sued Page for copyright infringement after claiming that he wrote to Page requesting credit for the track, but was ignored. The dispute was settled outside of court a year later, and the song was credited as “Jimmy Page – inspired by Jake Holmes” on future reissues of Zeppelin’s debut album.

Holmes’ latest suit cites newly released archival Yardbirds live renditions of “Dazed and Confused” that only credit Page as the songwriter, which Holmes’ lawsuit claims as a break in their agreement, per Reuters. Holmes also claims that the song was used without his permission in the Becoming Led Zeppelin doc. He’s seeking at least $150,000 per instance of infringement under US copyright law.

The new filing that Page “willfully infringed the Holmes composition by falsely claiming that the Holmes composition is the Page composition, by purporting to license use in the film of the Holmes composition as if it was the Page composition, and by collecting license fees for use of the Holmes composition in the film.”