Reminds me of the case where one of the members of Taurus sued Led Zeppelin for stealing a part of their song and using it in Stairway to Heaven. In short, Taurus was an opening act for Zeppelin at some of their shows, and their song "Spirit" opened with a guitar riff that is VERY similar to the opening riff of Stairway. But, in a bizarre technicality, because "Spirit" was recorded before the federal copyright laws covered digital recordings, the band could not use the recordings as evidence. They could only use the sheet music of the two songs. This led to a verdict in Led Zeppelin's favor.