Slash, Duff Sue Axl Over Guns N' Roses Publishing Royalties

[GypsySoul]

Some of the clients Mr. Weitzman has represented include John DeLorean, Marlon Brando, Magic Johnson, Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson, Courtney Love, Arnold Schwarzenegger, MGM, ICM and Westfield Development Co"

Not exactly the list of clientele you'd want to see Axl's name associated with.?

But if he gets Axl cleared, I guess that's all what matters.? So like Eva said...

Give em hell Howard!?

Why is that? Jacko and OJ were guilty as hell but got off. So even if Axl is guilty with this guy he has a good chance at getting out of it with a small loss or none at all.

That's what I said, isn't it?? ? ?Well maybe I didn't say it too good but that's what I meant.?

[ppbebe]

Some of the clients Mr. Weitzman has represented include John DeLorean, Marlon Brando, Magic Johnson, Michael Jackson, O.J. Simpson, Courtney Love, Arnold Schwarzenegger, MGM, ICM and Westfield Development Co"

Not exactly the list of clientele you'd want to see Axl's name associated with. 

But if he gets Axl cleared, I guess that's all what matters.  So like Eva said...

Give em hell Howard! 

Why is that? Jacko and OJ were guilty as hell but got off. So even if Axl is guilty with this guy he has a good chance at getting out of it with a small loss or none at all.

No! I'm with Gypsy. That wouldn't be so good. People might get the wrong impression that Axl was another rich basterd passing himself off as innocent. Fortunately it's not the case. See Eva's quote

Weitzman, for instance, was the first person O.J. Simpson called after the 1994 murders of the football star's ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

(Regarding OJ case, in an appearance on MSNBC's Abrahams Report in March of this year, Weitzman was asked "How you did you end up passing off the O.J. Simpson case?"
Weitzman:  "Well, I wouldn?t say I exactly passed it off.  I just passed on it for personal reasons.  I was with O.J., as you know, for the first 24 hours.  And it just wasn?t a case that I wanted to be involved in for a host of reasons."
Abrams:  "Thought he was guilty?"
Weitzman:  "Well, I clearly have an opinion and I think the jury probably arrived at the wrong verdict.")[/i]

Although Mr. Weitzman was called by Simpson, he didn't take on the case because he was doubtful of this clients innocence. He sounds like a lawyer of justice. This lawyer is unlikely to defend an evil. Axl is not guilty. 

[dave-gnfnr2k]

The whole this is/isnt gnr thing is getting old. Even if Axl wanted to called it by another name the label would NOT let him do it. They know the name guns n roses will sell atleast a million copies without even  trying in the USA. They need to make that 15m back. World wide they will do much better with guns n roses attached to this project where as if it was just called Axl Roses  band.

[D]

Still cant understand the ContraBand Bashing, Ive been listening to that cd for over 14 months straight now and it still hasnt got old.

[Jessica]

The lawsuit news have made music headlines on yahoo france...they'll will soon be followed by MCM tv and radios, they read yahoo...

Such a pity...

[erose]

it's been mentioned in at least the two biggest papers in norway too. it's obvious that they only care about the sn'd vs. axl fight tho...

[jarmo]

W.Axl Rose Responds to Frivolous Copyright Suit by Former Guns N' Roses Members

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 29, 2005--In response to a "frivolous" lawsuit filed against Guns N' Roses leader W.Axl Rose by two former band members claiming Mr. Rose attempted to change the copyright status and the royalty stream earned by the disgruntled pair when they worked with the band Mr. Rose's attorney, Howard Weitzman stated: "This is a classic case of premature accusation. If someone had taken the time to investigate or ask about this situation before rushing to judgment they would have learned that ASCAP (the entity that collects money for songwriters) made a clerical error and failed to appropriately divide and distribute the royalty's owed for the first quarter of 2005 to Axl and the former Guns N' Roses musicians. The amount ASCAP mistakenly sent to Axl's publisher was never received by Axl nor was he ever made aware of the error. The publisher alerted ASCAP to the error, returned the money immediately and asked ASCAP to remedy the situation by distributing the funds appropriately."


Weitzman further comments: "Rather than pick up the telephone and contact Axl or his representatives, his former partners scurried to file a lawsuit that contained false statements about Axl rather then making an effort to learn the truth regarding ASCAP's mistake. Slash and Duff have an unfortunate pattern over the past few years of filing sensational but baseless lawsuits for the purpose of generating anti-Axl propaganda. It is clear that Slash and Duff are looking for another opportunity to spread untruths about Axl in an effort to hurt his reputation and to alienate his fans while at the same time creating a profile for themselves.

"Contrary to allegations in the lawsuit, Axl has never denied that others made substantial contributions towards the success of Guns N' Roses, but there is little doubt as to who was the creative catalyst behind the group's success."


http://home.businesswire.com/

Thanks to Brent


/jarmo

[Nytunz]

this is just Crazy! But it seems like they can get an agreement here... i doubt it have any delayin on CD

[GypsySoul]

Weitzman further comments: "Rather than pick up the telephone and contact Axl or his representatives, his former partners scurried to file a lawsuit that contained false statements about Axl rather then making an effort to learn the truth regarding ASCAP's mistake. Slash and Duff have an unfortunate pattern over the past few years of filing sensational but baseless lawsuits for the purpose of generating anti-Axl propaganda. It is clear that Slash and Duff are looking for another opportunity to spread untruths about Axl in an effort to hurt his reputation and to alienate his fans while at the same time creating a profile for themselves.

"his FORMER partners"?? All these lawsuits are so confusing!!!? ? Doesn't this statement by Axl's lawyer now give credence to that other lawsuit?

I'm sooooooooooooo confused!!!? ?

[Axl4Pres]

This is exactly what i had said in another post neither slash or duff thought to contact axl or any of his represntatives to find out what was going on they just assume he is trying to steal money from them.  I love slash and duff but im slowly starting to question there integrity when it comes to Axl n the GnR name.

[erose]

how could slash n' duff be so fucking stupid and do this without making the calls? my god, as if axl would try to fuck them over without getting cought?!?!...

BTW: Hey Jarmo, where's my notification e-mails, haven't gotten any in a days... is it me or you?

[Jessica]

W.Axl Rose Responds to Frivolous Copyright Suit by Former Guns N' Roses Members

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 29, 2005--In response to a "frivolous" lawsuit filed against Guns N' Roses leader W.Axl Rose by two former band members claiming Mr. Rose attempted to change the copyright status and the royalty stream earned by the disgruntled pair when they worked with the band Mr. Rose's attorney, Howard Weitzman stated: "This is a classic case of premature accusation. If someone had taken the time to investigate or ask about this situation before rushing to judgment they would have learned that ASCAP (the entity that collects money for songwriters) made a clerical error and failed to appropriately divide and distribute the royalty's owed for the first quarter of 2005 to Axl and the former Guns N' Roses musicians. The amount ASCAP mistakenly sent to Axl's publisher was never received by Axl nor was he ever made aware of the error. The publisher alerted ASCAP to the error, returned the money immediately and asked ASCAP to remedy the situation by distributing the funds appropriately."


Weitzman further comments: "Rather than pick up the telephone and contact Axl or his representatives, his former partners scurried to file a lawsuit that contained false statements about Axl rather then making an effort to learn the truth regarding ASCAP's mistake. Slash and Duff have an unfortunate pattern over the past few years of filing sensational but baseless lawsuits for the purpose of generating anti-Axl propaganda. It is clear that Slash and Duff are looking for another opportunity to spread untruths about Axl in an effort to hurt his reputation and to alienate his fans while at the same time creating a profile for themselves.

"Contrary to allegations in the lawsuit, Axl has never denied that others made substantial contributions towards the success of Guns N' Roses, but there is little doubt as to who was the creative catalyst behind the group's success."


http://home.businesswire.com/

Thanks to Brent


/jarmo

Oops; i had said on velvet R site, they didn't know, they shouldnt have gone into this so fast....

Pity pity pity..

But thank god, i couldn't imagine axl do this, not in the name of god.

[Pandora]

"his FORMER partners"?  All these lawsuits are so confusing!!!    Doesn't this statement by Axl's lawyer now give credence to that other lawsuit?

I'm sooooooooooooo confused!!!   

I'm assuming he means "his former partners in music". Sort of an ex-colleague thing, but I might be wrong on that.

Hopefully this situation will be resolved pretty quickly and there will only be one lawsuit left 

[Booker Floyd]

If Axls attorney is right, then hopefully the lawsuit will be resolved quickly.

Slash and Duff have an unfortunate pattern over the past few years of filing sensational but baseless lawsuits for the purpose of generating anti-Axl propaganda.

What lawsuits are these?  To my knowledge theres one other lawsuit, and it seems to have at least some credibility.  Of course hes an attorney, so of course its his job to ignore Axls own questionable moves, like attempting re-record and license old recordings.

there is little doubt as to who was the creative catalyst behind the group's success.

Really?   

I think attorneys on both sides should keep these kind of opinions to themselves...

[younggunner]

its sad it really is

[Mikkamakka]

W.Axl Rose Responds to Frivolous Copyright Suit by Former Guns N' Roses Members

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 29, 2005--In response to a "frivolous" lawsuit filed against Guns N' Roses leader W.Axl Rose by two former band members claiming Mr. Rose attempted to change the copyright status and the royalty stream earned by the disgruntled pair when they worked with the band Mr. Rose's attorney, Howard Weitzman stated: "This is a classic case of premature accusation. If someone had taken the time to investigate or ask about this situation before rushing to judgment they would have learned that ASCAP (the entity that collects money for songwriters) made a clerical error and failed to appropriately divide and distribute the royalty's owed for the first quarter of 2005 to Axl and the former Guns N' Roses musicians. The amount ASCAP mistakenly sent to Axl's publisher was never received by Axl nor was he ever made aware of the error. The publisher alerted ASCAP to the error, returned the money immediately and asked ASCAP to remedy the situation by distributing the funds appropriately."


Weitzman further comments: "Rather than pick up the telephone and contact Axl or his representatives, his former partners scurried to file a lawsuit that contained false statements about Axl rather then making an effort to learn the truth regarding ASCAP's mistake. Slash and Duff have an unfortunate pattern over the past few years of filing sensational but baseless lawsuits for the purpose of generating anti-Axl propaganda. It is clear that Slash and Duff are looking for another opportunity to spread untruths about Axl in an effort to hurt his reputation and to alienate his fans while at the same time creating a profile for themselves.

"Contrary to allegations in the lawsuit, Axl has never denied that others made substantial contributions towards the success of Guns N' Roses, but there is little doubt as to who was the creative catalyst behind the group's success."


http://home.businesswire.com/

Thanks to Brent


/jarmo

Not Axl, for sure. I hate his egomaniac comments.

[Scabbie]

I don't buy this whole thing about Slash and Duff 'alienating his fans'. With no album, no website, no news, no statements, no gigs, no band photos, no communication (direct or indirect) Axl et al are doing a fairly good job of alienating their fans without Slash or Duff.

[Saul]

"Contrary to allegations in the lawsuit, Axl has never denied that others made substantial contributions towards the success of Guns N' Roses, but there is little doubt as to who was the creative catalyst behind the group's success."

I have to agree. Sure , they all made wonderful music together. But obviously Axl had a greater vision for the band then that of playing seedy clubs forever and re-recording/releasing AFD every couple years under different titles. It was afterall Axl who wrote and fought for songs like Estranged and November Rain. It was Axl who pushed for huge videos , massive stage sets etc etc .... it was axl who got onstage every night and througout the fans wondered just what they were in store for that very night. Going to see axl rose wasnt just going to see a singer sing. You were going to see this larger then life person who on any given night could be any given thing to any given person.

The band was important and GREAT .. but Axl was head and shoulders more valuable to Guns N Roses then any of them.

And with that ,

Chinese Democracy starts sometime. 

[W. Botaxl Rose]

I think the lawyers last sentence should really say," but there is little doubt as to who was the creative catalyst behind the group's DEMISE!" ?

[Saul]

I think the lawyers last sentence should really say," but there is little doubt as to who was the creative catalyst behind the group's DEMISE!" 

Paul Tobias?