British rock band Led Zeppelin on Monday effectively won a long-running legal battle over claims it stole the opening guitar riff from its signature 1971 song "Stairway to Heaven."

The band, one of the best-selling rock acts of all time, was handed victory after the US Supreme Court declined to take up the case, meaning that a March 2020 decision by a US appeals court in Led Zeppelin's favor will stand.

Lead singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page had been accused in the six-year long case of lifting the riff -- one of the best-known openings in rock music -- from a song called "Taurus," written by the late Randy Wolfe of the US band Spirit.

Wolfe, who performed as Randy California, drowned in 1997, and the case was brought by a trustee for his estate. It has been one of the music industry's most closely watched copyright cases, potentially exposing Plant and Page to millions of dollars in damages.