Slash & Duff to sue Axl!

[Stupid Head]

Former Guns N' Roses Members Fight for Control of Songs

Axl Rose and Guns N' Roses ruled rock in the '80s with hits like "Sweet Child of Mine" and "Paradise City." The original band members parted ways in 1995, but now, former band mates Slash, whose real name is Saul Hudson, and Duff McKagan are suing Rose, claiming he ripped them off to the tune of at least a million dollars.

Duff and Slash now have a new band called Velvet Revolver, and are about to go on tour. But they're bound to have some things on their mind -- mainly the lawsuit against their former front man which pertains to who controls the rights to old Guns N' Roses hits.

In the suit, Duff and Slash claim Rose doesn't have any controlling interest in the songs, but they say he killed deals that would have put their tunes in a half dozen movies, including "Just Married," "We Were Soldiers," "Death to Smoochie" and "Old School."

And you won't hear the band's huge hit, "Welcome to the Jungle" in the movie "Blackhawk Down," because, according to the lawsuit, Axl wouldn't let the producers use it. Instead, he wanted to re-record it, thereby allegedly cheating his ex-band mates out of the licensing fee.

David Powell runs "The Music Bridge," a company that deals with music rights for movies. According to Powell, "Licensing is very important for any band or any artist that gets out there in popular culture."

In Powell's business, when the movies come calling, most bands seem eager to participate, since, "There are many income streams that can be generated from the songs, as well as the master recordings, for years and sometimes generations to come."

source: http://celebrityjustice.warnerbros.com/news/0405/03a.html

[Freya]

Is this for real?  Or is this old?  I kind of actually have respected Axl's decisions not to let just anybody use their songs.  

[Acquiesce]

The article has today's date and mentions VR's upcoming tour so it's new.

[Naupis]

From what that article says, if true, it sounds like they might almost have a legitimate gripe. Axl may own the name, but all of their names are on the songs from the back catalog.  You would have to think in that type of situation majority would rule if they could get everyone outside of Axl to sign on to something. They obviously would not be bringing suit if some legal type had not told them they would have a reasonable chance of winning. Should be interesting to say the least.

And before the Axl-zealots get too wild, they are suing for control over the songs, not Axl using the names or songs. That is not at issue, I can already here the "Well they should have never quite the band, they should have never signed the rights to the name over." Those are not the issues at hand so please don't give us the normal schpeel.

[Stupid Head]

Nope, this is for real. Its about an hour old. Pretty sad really. I think this is just a waste of time. They should be concentrating on their on band. I guess this will halt CD even longer.

[SLCPUNK]

whoa.

[Naupis]

It doesn't sound stupid at all. Axl would be and has done the same thing to others when legal action was an available recourse. If you can use the courts to your advantage why not.

Although I think its safe to say if he ends up losing this one he may throw in the towel because he would have to release something new as he would not be the only one with access to the back catalog and I think that would just eat at him. And he is obviously not mentally prepared to release an album anytime soon.

[Stupid Head]

Hopefully they will be able to settle this out of court.

[Doc Emmett Brown]

How many lawsuits can one redhead be involved in?  

I agree with Freya about being picky in which movies you allow your music to be heard.  But this part bothers me:

And you won't hear the band's huge hit, "Welcome to the Jungle" in the movie "Blackhawk Down," because, according to the lawsuit, Axl wouldn't let the producers use it. Instead, he wanted to re-record it, thereby allegedly cheating his ex-band mates out of the licensing fee.

See, Axl wasn't against the song being in the movie, per se, he just wanted to eliminate all traces of the guys who actually wrote it with him.  Now I have a problem with that.  

I'm just wondering why Slash & Duff chose to do this now.  There should have had plenty of occasions to bring up this issue before.

[Booker Floyd]

Interesting...

Well, the legalities of their contracts will determine this one.  If Slash and Duff no longer have the rights, then its solely Axls call.  If they do, then the suit will prove so.  Just have to wait and see.

[Falcon]

Interesting timing to say the least, VR's doing everything right, even their lawsuits...

Don't know if they've got a leg to stand on, but the VR publicity machine is working overtime getting them out there...

Lawsuits included..

[Mutherfunker]

I am so tired of all this VR/Slash/duff versus Axl bullshit.

I can't believe this crap is still going on.

This is supposed to be about music, not money/law/lawyers

Why can't everyone get on with it. Neither side need the money for fucks sake.

@#$%Muther

[axls#2]

I guess it's safe to say we won't be seeing a reunion anytime soon. It's a shame, a damn shame.

[DRUNK]

Ok.  I guess this means that Axl won't be on the Behind The Music.


Things just keep getting worse for Axl.  This sucks.

[killingvector]

Classless move by the old members on the dawn of their new band.


Moving on? yeah right.

This is a fight for control of GnR because this will inevitably come down to who owns the gnr name. If axl loses, he stands to lose millions and perhaps the right to use the name GnR.

We may never see a GnR release if the redhead loses.

Slash and Duff are ASSHOLES! One last parting shot to tack onto the BTM feature that will no doubt skewer Axl Rose and take away his livelihood.

[Falcon]

Classless move by the old members on the dawn of their new band.


Moving on? yeah right.

This is a fight for control of GnR because this will inevitably come down to who owns the gnr name. If axl loses, he stands to lose millions and perhaps the right to use the name GnR.

We may never see a GnR release if the redhead loses.

Slash and Duff are ASSHOLES! One last parting shot to tack onto the BTM feature that will no doubt skewer Axl Rose and take away his livelihood.

Take away his livlihood? Huh?

HE owns the name.

HE is the only one allowed to tour under the name GNR.

HE is the only one allowed to record and release under the name GNR.

Take away his livlihood?

Puh-leaze.


Disclaimer: Not taking sides here in the least, just pointing out the utter goofiness of the above post.

[killingvector]

nice sarcasm falcon, jerk.

they are attacking axl's position as controlling interest in the band. This is a huge attack on his ownership of the GnR name. with a simple ruling a judge could proclaim that axl does not have exclusive rights to the catalog and name. Ergo, he must repay the old members for lost monies, monies that axl never received himself since he shot down the deal, as well as declare that the ownership of the name isn't axls. This is huge.

[SLCPUNK]

No need for name calling.


********

What goes around comes around.

[bill213]

Haha maybe they'll all be in court together.........does that count as a reunion?

[Mutherfunker]

I don't think it'll affect Axl much. Certainly not his livlihood. And I don't think it's gonna lead to any GN'R name battles.

I just don't understand the timing of this. They've got a new album which will rock, and it's been years since they split.

The only thing I can think of is that lately a lot of songs have been refused for soundtracks costing them a lot of money. That would be understandable I suppose, although you could argue how important that money actually is with all the money they'll be making/already are making.

Whatever..... it should never have got anywhere near this situation. It's sad that we are actually use to this sort of thing anyway.

@#$%Muther