A bench of 11 in San Francisco affirmed an English judgment from 2016 that found no proof that the 1971 hit was taken from the song Taurus, written by Randy Wolfe, of Los Angeles band Spirit.

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was sued along with singer Robert Plant and John Paul Jones. They testified in 2016 that the chord sequence used had “been around forever”.

Trustee for Mr Wolfe, Michael Skidmore, said the chord progressions were similar and that Mr Page may have written Stairway to Heaven after hearing Taurus while the two bands toured together.

Francis Malofiy, lawyer for the trustee, said: “Obviously the court got it wrong. This is a big loss for creators, those who copyright laws are meant to protect.”

He added that he is considering an appeal to the US Supreme Court.