Axl - Legal Press Release

[W. Botaxl Rose]

I think Slash & Duff getting screwed out of their royalties has more to do with at least one of the lawsuits than any personal feelings. JMHO. And anyone who says why didn't they just call Axl & tell him about the mistake need to look no further than this recent press release. Why would anyone want to deal with him privately?

They didnt have to call Axl just the company that deals with their royalties but they did not even do that now did they? Its like you not getting your work paycheck one week and instead of asking? your manager why did you get your check, you sue the company. Yeah that makes a lot of sense.

Though the Sanctuary deal was reported on by the press, Slash and Duff claim they weren't aware of the scope of Rose's dealings ? which they say he "omitted and concealed" ? until their expected royalty payments for the first quarter of 2005 didn't arrive in the mail. "When the ASCAP check didn't come, we called and they looked into it," McKagan's lawyer, Glen Miskel, said. "We didn't know all the facts at first."

Miskel said that only last week did they discover that Rose had notified ASCAP on or around May 26 that he was switching over the publishing from Guns N' Roses to Black Frog Music Publishing (which he owns) and Kobalt Songs Music Publishing (which is a joint venture with and handles the administration of Sanctuary's publishing). Consequently, the ASCAP check for the first quarter of 2005 ? some $92,000 ? went to Rose and "his accomplices"




Might want to know your facts next time before posting.

[W. Botaxl Rose]

Nah, they have only been throwing lawsuits in Axls face and then delaying time after time. ?Not to mention the ASCAP lawsuit that could have been corrected with one phone call. ?Yea they have really been mature these past couple of years.

It looks like Slash & Duff's lawyers did make some phone calls. Now do you care to comment on how Slash & Duff should've handled this situation differently. What would you do if someone tried to rip you off of money that is rightfully yours?

[Elrothiel]

Talk.

[damnthehaters]

Let Slash, Duff, and Axl handle there (what seems to be) childish problem.? We have no idea what the truth is, so quit trying to put the blame on either side.? Some of you think you know everything, when in fact you don't know jack.?

I do have a theory though.  I don't know how one minute, Axl could say something somewhat positive about Slash (Rolling Stone Interview), and then go and do this.  I honestly think Slash may have been to source behind those leaks.

[W. Botaxl Rose]

Weitzman made a statement which explained what occurred; there was an error at ASCAP and all S&D had to do was check it out themselves. As far as I remember, he didn't characterize S&D? at all. S&D's attorney read a statement which followed the second filing that characterized Axl. Today was Axl's response through Weitzman to both the original lawsuit and his characterization by S&D that he 'knowingly' redirected S&D monies into his own account.

Slash & Duf's legal team did check it out & it looks like ASCAP told them that they had been told to send the money to a different location than before. Why didn't axl's financial team notice the huge increase in royalties, figure out what caused it & call Slash & Duff's reps to fix the problem? Explain that to me? Wouldn't it of been the right thing for Axl's team to do since his actions caused the confusion in the first place? Or maybe he meant to do it & believes all GNR royalties are his? That seems to be the case and what this lawsuit is all about.

[damnthehaters]

Weitzman made a statement which explained what occurred; there was an error at ASCAP and all S&D had to do was check it out themselves. As far as I remember, he didn't characterize S&D? at all. S&D's attorney read a statement which followed the second filing that characterized Axl. Today was Axl's response through Weitzman to both the original lawsuit and his characterization by S&D that he 'knowingly' redirected S&D monies into his own account.

Slash & Duf's legal team did check it out & it looks like ASCAP told them that they had been told to send the money to a different location than before. Why didn't axl's financial team notice the huge increase in royalties, figure out what caused it & call Slash & Duff's reps to fix the problem? Explain that to me? Wouldn't it of been the right thing for Axl's team to do since his actions caused the confusion in the first place? Or maybe he meant to do it & believes all GNR royalties are his? That seems to be the case and what this lawsuit is all about.

Well, when you make as much money as Axl does, I honestly don't think you really pay much attention. 

[W. Botaxl Rose]

Weitzman made a statement which explained what occurred; there was an error at ASCAP and all S&D had to do was check it out themselves. As far as I remember, he didn't characterize S&D? at all. S&D's attorney read a statement which followed the second filing that characterized Axl. Today was Axl's response through Weitzman to both the original lawsuit and his characterization by S&D that he 'knowingly' redirected S&D monies into his own account.

Slash & Duf's legal team did check it out & it looks like ASCAP told them that they had been told to send the money to a different location than before. Why didn't axl's financial team notice the huge increase in royalties, figure out what caused it & call Slash & Duff's reps to fix the problem? Explain that to me? Wouldn't it of been the right thing for Axl's team to do since his actions caused the confusion in the first place? Or maybe he meant to do it & believes all GNR royalties are his? That seems to be the case and what this lawsuit is all about.

Well, when you make as much money as Axl does, I honestly don't think you really pay much attention.?

What an intelligent, well thought out reply. If Axl doesn't really pay much attention to his royalties, then why did he change where they got sent to? I love how axl can be a marketing/fincial/musical genius for some of you people when it's convenient, but when pressed, there's always some simple nonfactual answer to exlain it away. If axl doesn't pay much attention to his money, then why is he suing the car dealership a measly $20000? If he makes sooooo much cash, why would he even care?

[damnthehaters]

Weitzman made a statement which explained what occurred; there was an error at ASCAP and all S&D had to do was check it out themselves. As far as I remember, he didn't characterize S&D? at all. S&D's attorney read a statement which followed the second filing that characterized Axl. Today was Axl's response through Weitzman to both the original lawsuit and his characterization by S&D that he 'knowingly' redirected S&D monies into his own account.

Slash & Duf's legal team did check it out & it looks like ASCAP told them that they had been told to send the money to a different location than before. Why didn't axl's financial team notice the huge increase in royalties, figure out what caused it & call Slash & Duff's reps to fix the problem? Explain that to me? Wouldn't it of been the right thing for Axl's team to do since his actions caused the confusion in the first place? Or maybe he meant to do it & believes all GNR royalties are his? That seems to be the case and what this lawsuit is all about.

Well, when you make as much money as Axl does, I honestly don't think you really pay much attention.?

What an intelligent, well thought out reply. If Axl doesn't really pay much attention to his royalties, then why did he change where they got sent to? I love how axl can be a marketing/fincial/musical genius for some of you people when it's convenient, but when pressed, there's always some simple nonfactual answer to exlain it away. If axl doesn't pay much attention to his money, then why is he suing the car dealership a measly $20000? If he makes sooooo much cash, why would he even care?

Wow dude, relax!  I'm not one of those Axl lovers.  Just thought I might guess "why" on the issue.  Everything is going to be ok... 

[killingvector]

Weitzman made a statement which explained what occurred; there was an error at ASCAP and all S&D had to do was check it out themselves. As far as I remember, he didn't characterize S&D  at all. S&D's attorney read a statement which followed the second filing that characterized Axl. Today was Axl's response through Weitzman to both the original lawsuit and his characterization by S&D that he 'knowingly' redirected S&D monies into his own account.

Slash & Duf's legal team did check it out & it looks like ASCAP told them that they had been told to send the money to a different location than before. Why didn't axl's financial team notice the huge increase in royalties, figure out what caused it & call Slash & Duff's reps to fix the problem? Explain that to me? Wouldn't it of been the right thing for Axl's team to do since his actions caused the confusion in the first place? Or maybe he meant to do it & believes all GNR royalties are his? That seems to be the case and what this lawsuit is all about.

Slash and Duff are alledging fraud. They have to show not that the money ended up with Axl but rather Axl directed their monies to his own account. Since you so cavalierly cited Miskel's comments, I will quote Weitzman's. Hope they answer your questions:


"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."


1. Axl never received the money, therefore he never noticed a problem.
2. The mistake was made by ASCAP; duff and slash never properly investigated where the mistake originated or where it went, but rather decided to accuse Axl. Whatever call they allegedly made was not sufficient to uncover the problem.
3. The money was immediately returned by the publisher (Kobalt) and ASCAP fixed the problem.

So tell me where is the fraud? If ASCAP was able to correct its clerical error and remedy the problem, how exactly did Axl commit fraud?

[Elrothiel]

Exactly. Slash and Duff are just using it as an excuse to make Axl look bad, and make us all argue on here. Its the same thing all the time.

Sorry to give that old horse's corpse a whack there...

[D]

what kills me if, people are pissed at Slash and Duff for suing Axl over shit that is rightfully theres.

It would be like someone stealing your wallet and then people getting pissed at u for having the guy arrested.

They arent suing Axl to hurt Chinese Democracy, they are suing Axl cause of business stuff that deals with GNR's catalog.

[killingvector]

what kills me if, people are pissed at Slash and Duff for suing Axl over shit that is rightfully theres.

It would be like someone stealing your wallet and then people getting pissed at u for having the guy arrested.

They arent suing Axl to hurt Chinese Democracy, they are suing Axl cause of business stuff that deals with GNR's catalog.

For a long time, Slash and Duff have made comments about losing the GnR name to Axl. I remember an interview they gave for Powerhour, at least I believe it was Powerhour, in which they talked about how the whole situation left a bitter taste in their mouth and how they were exploring legal options at that point. These two suits seem like the result of that; the lawyers searched through everything and came up with this filing. Forgive me for being skeptical, but when two individuals feel jilted and hire a lawyer to find a legal avenue to correct a wrong, it leaves me a bit cold. I don't know the strength of their case, but the vibe I get is that their actions during the time period in question betray their claims.

[McDuff]

It's all fuckin' bullshit,that's the last thing I say on this subject

[Mikkamakka]

No doubt Slash saying Chinese Democracy would be out in March put Axl under some unofficial deadline with fans.

Slash left GN'R in 1996. How could his words make a deadline?

Axl's employees (Tommy, Richard, Dizzy) talked about CD's release for zillion times. That was more of a deadline for the fans. Even Axl said the new record would come out in 1997(!!!).

[dolphin]

I saw back a few pages that someone said this all gets panned out in March.

I think it got delayed again until May.

SAUL HUDSON ET. AL. VS. W. AXL ROSE

Filing Date: 04/29/2004
Case Type: Contract - Tortious Interference (General Jurisdiction)
Status: Pending

Future Hearings

05/04/2006 at 08:30 am in department WEB at 1725 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Final Status Conference (and OSC re: defendant's failure toappear at the hearing date of7/12/05*Jury Trial: 5/16/06)

05/16/2006 at 08:30 am in department WEB at 1725 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Jury Trial (TIME ESTIMATE 5-7 DAYS)

[badapple81]

I saw back a few pages that someone said this all gets panned out in March.

I think it got delayed again until May.

SAUL HUDSON ET. AL. VS. W. AXL ROSE

Filing Date: 04/29/2004
Case Type: Contract - Tortious Interference (General Jurisdiction)
Status: Pending

Future Hearings

05/04/2006 at 08:30 am in department WEB at 1725 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Final Status Conference (and OSC re: defendant's failure toappear at the hearing date of7/12/05*Jury Trial: 5/16/06)

05/16/2006 at 08:30 am in department WEB at 1725 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Jury Trial (TIME ESTIMATE 5-7 DAYS)

Hope it doesn't get pushed back again as RIR is 05/27/06!    Guess we'll get Axl's reactions to the verdict on stage!

[Eva GnRAxlRosette]

first of all i'm just poking my head in to say that I'm glad to hear Axl respond to the lawsuits - which are not just business by any means. as i've pointed out several times in the lawsuit thread their accusations go beyond 'just trying to get their money'...  they allege malicious intent to defraud and ask for punitive damages.  if they believed that they found a way to legally get more / exclusive rights to the back catalogue and pursued it in an effort to get more &/or a bigger cut of the pie that's one thing - their allegations regarding malicious intent to defraud are criminal accusations (albeit made in a civil court)  -  they are calling axl a theif and a liar who has somehow tricked the entire industry into believing that he has rights that he supposedly knew/knows he doesn't (which at the same time all the while through 9 years they themselves were not aware of! lol!)

hey whatever they think they found their loophole - something which as KV pointed out they'd been looking for -  loophole by the way is something which enables one to violate the spirit or meaning of their agreement without technically violating the letter of the law...  something which i don't see how anyone could be proud of.

but beyond their loophole - they are seeking punitive damages.  that means the judge would have to grant them an amount of money that has nothing to do with what their loophole would allow them to have earned - all it has to do with is taking from Axl til it 'hurts' him and... oh yeah - giving to them.

who of you would cheer this?
sure there is the "they are entitled to their money that's rightfully theirs" crowd who would see justice done if they get thier claim of lost income....    fine.  if they found a loophole they found a loophole...

but those of you who would cheer the judge taking money from axl and giving it to slash and duff just to punish axl...  then you must believe that Axl is a thief

the whole legal battle thread title should be changed and simplify the whole matter -

"Slash and Duff accuse Axl of being a theif.  Do you believe Axl is a theif or not?"

I think everyone here knows where I stand on that matter.

and btw:  Way to go KV!  and Dave!  and all my fellow Axl supporters 

Give 'em hell Axl!

[Thorazine Shuffle]

Nah, they have only been throwing lawsuits in Axls face and then delaying time after time. ?Not to mention the ASCAP lawsuit that could have been corrected with one phone call. ?Yea they have really been mature these past couple of years.

It looks like Slash & Duff's lawyers did make some phone calls. Now do you care to comment on how Slash & Duff should've handled this situation differently. What would you do if someone tried to rip you off of money that is rightfully yours?

Ripped who off?? ?S and D got their money.? It was a clerical error that should off been handled by a few phone calls.? S and D we're concerned about gaining more "artillary" for the trial.? They got their money.? It's like having your paycheck accidentally go into someone elses bank account.? You call the bank and get the error corrected.? You don't go and sue the friggin bank.? Oh, and if it happened to me, and I was S and D, I would call my accountant and get it corrected.? As smart of a businessman as Axl is, do you honestly think that he was going to do something as stupid as this?

[Brahman]

i just wonder when slash made "malicious attempts " to attack axl for his own benefit!?
he never ever dissed axl the past ten years in the press did he, he only said he was anxious to see the new CD coming out and that he was unable anymore to comminucate with axl when he just left the band The lawsuit is understandable. I wouldnt like it when Axl's mercenary's were playing my songs, songs that i created. The fact that axl plays them with a totally different band pretending to be GNR shows that he's pretty cold!

What are these malicious attempts of slash??

[mikegiuliana]

I wonder why nothing has been said.. Where's slash to defend himself or to say yes it happened?