Axl Rose Slams Irving Azoff In $5 Million Countersuit

[AxlReznor]

It's a shame that they reached a settlement.... I really wanted Azoff to get his ass handed to him in court and have his stranglehold on the music industry weakened.

No it's not a shame actually. If this went to court it would have dragged out forever. And don't think that just because they had a hearing schedule it wouldn't have been postponed. These things take years. It's good they settled, so they can get on with their business and the fans can watch them tour. Also, do'nt be so sure Axl would have won. Juries are made up of fools who can't figure out how to get out of jury duty.

Don't get me wrong... it's good for Guns N' Roses. But personally, I feel the future of the entire industry is more important than the future of just one band. I was glad to see someone stand up to him, and it would have been a good time for other artists who are equally as unimpressed with the situation actually step up and do something about it. Axl might not have won, but if he did it would've been so much fun to see, and could have gone some way to saving the industry and securing rights for artists and consumers alike. Settling out of court means GN'R can get on with business, but it's not a good thing in the big picture.

[bolton]

I don't know what @settlment@ mean

If I understand Axl and Azzof make agreement and finished job without court?
Am I right?

[bolton]

Ok I understand it...It's good for Gnr and for fans...Now Azoff have interest in Guns n Roses,and I'm sure this USA tour will be huge

[sandman]

we  can speculate all day over what would have happened, or what the issue was regarding touring the U.S., but it's all just specuation. all that matters is this...

"lawyers for Rose filed papers stating that the final accord would involve "a comprehensive touring agreement in which Guns 'N Roses would perform at various...venues.""

awesome news! 

i'm not 100% sure what that means, but it appears there will soon be an agreement in place for GnR to tour the U.S. and again, i could be wrong, but i am assuming this is the MAJOR step (or hurdle) that had not been reached in the last 4 years, and the rest of the planning for a U.S. tour involves the relatively "easy" steps.

keeping my freakin fingers crossed! 

[wight gunner]

we  can speculate all day over what would have happened, or what the issue was regarding touring the U.S., but it's all just specuation. all that matters is this...

"lawyers for Rose filed papers stating that the final accord would involve "a comprehensive touring agreement in which Guns 'N Roses would perform at various...venues.""

awesome news! 

i'm not 100% sure what that means, but it appears there will soon be an agreement in place for GnR to tour the U.S. and again, i could be wrong, but i am assuming this is the MAJOR step (or hurdle) that had not been reached in the last 4 years, and the rest of the planning for a U.S. tour involves the relatively "easy" steps.

keeping my freakin fingers crossed! 

And you can be sure that Axl has a minimum expectation level on what Azoff's input would be, so that he hasn't got to jump through hoops to keep the tour on the road this time round - once bitten twice shy type of thing.  Good news all round, a part of me wishes it got to court, but then I'm not having to live with the shit that it involves, but closure is a huge weight off Axl's ( and the band's, don't forget they have their "home" fans to impress too) shoulders. 

Hopefully, this new leaf turned, so to speak,  will see topic of DJ's news come to the fore...

[westcoast_junkie]

Hope this turn out good for you american fans. You deserve too catch a Gn'R show again! Sad that asshole management is "managing" to screw things up like this....

And I hope Axl was satisfied with this settlement, whatever it was

[H76]

It's a shame that they reached a settlement.... I really wanted Azoff to get his ass handed to him in court and have his stranglehold on the music industry weakened.

No it's not a shame actually. If this went to court it would have dragged out forever. And don't think that just because they had a hearing schedule it wouldn't have been postponed. These things take years. It's good they settled, so they can get on with their business and the fans can watch them tour. Also, do'nt be so sure Axl would have won. Juries are made up of fools who can't figure out how to get out of jury duty.

Don't get me wrong... it's good for Guns N' Roses. But personally, I feel the future of the entire industry is more important than the future of just one band. I was glad to see someone stand up to him, and it would have been a good time for other artists who are equally as unimpressed with the situation actually step up and do something about it. Axl might not have won, but if he did it would've been so much fun to see, and could have gone some way to saving the industry and securing rights for artists and consumers alike. Settling out of court means GN'R can get on with business, but it's not a good thing in the big picture.

I get what you mean, but it's not Axl's job. He has other responsibilities, people working for him etc. that he has to take care of. If this gives him a change to normalize things, then be it. Fans in U.S. have been waiting for the tour for some time now. I say let them have it.

As far as saving the industry..don't artists have an organization that would work to improve their rights within the industry ? Together they would be much stronger.

[Albert S Miller]

Like a "Union" for musicians or something 

[H76]

Yes. I don't see a point in every band fighting their own war and spending their own money for that, if the problems they are facing are the same ones.

[veritas55]

I think that AssOff dude has messed with the wrong people this time... Now i know better! About the whole marketing stuff, and why the lack of promotion and stuff! What a way to run over people!

Imagine u have built a boat. After 10 years you are nearly ready... then AssOff suddenly show up, and u put your trust in the guy, who turns out to not be the captain u wanted him to be.

Hope he will pay for this..

I'm not so sure that Azoff will lose. He definitely will lose, but going up against possibly the most influential and powerful figure in a multi-million dollar industry is either really brave, or really stupid.
One of them has bitten off more than he can chew, but it remains to be seen which one. It will sure be interesting either way... and if Axl wins, it'll be a major victory, not just for GN'R, but for anyone who calls themselves a music fan.

I would think that they will settle at some point in time, as most lawsuits do.
When you compare complaints, they both look pretty thin and the damages will largely offset.
Azoff may have a hard time proving that he did sufficient work to earn his commissions for the tour, and Axl will have a very hard time (from a legal perspective) showing lost profits in lower record sales based on Azoff not marketing / promoting enough.  Lost profits are hard to prove because you have to eliminate so many other confounding variables, like the record selling climate etc.  You basically have to establish a factual state of affairs that never existed.

So, in spite of whatever bitterness these guys have against each other, I bet at some point the attorneys for each side will basically tell their clients, "look, this is a wash and will cost you a lot of money to litigate."  Azoff will walk away from his commissions and Axl walks away from the lost profits.

Or maybe not .....

That sounds about right.   

[sixgnr]

Irving, irving... what did you think to do?
LOL

[FunkyMonkey]

EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTS: Axl Rose Lawsuit Settled

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/07/axl-rose-settles-management-dispute-lawsuit-front-line-guns-and-roses

[richwoman]

^^ does that mean technically he won?

[fieldsy]

No - it means that the prosecuting party is withdrawing their application as they have settled out of court