Duff, Slash Gunning for Axl
Thu Aug 25, 8:00 AM

The bad blood among the ex-members of Guns N' Roses has boiled over into a federal case.

Duff McKagan and Slash filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles Wednesday against Guns ringleader Axl Rose, accusing their former frontman of trying to cheat them out of royalties to the song catalog of the iconic hair band.

News: Axl's alienating deal
News: Axl loses Guns battle
News: Axl outgunned in court
E! Online Because of Rose's "arrogance and ego," per the suit, he has failed to "acknowledge the contributions of his former bandmates in [creating] some of rock's greatest hits."

"Rose's actions were malicious, fraudulent and oppressive, and undertaken in conscious disregard of [Slash and Duff's] property rights." They say that a $92,000 royalty check cover the first quarter of 2005 went directly to Rose "and his accomplices," instead of being split three ways.

The former Gunners are accusing Rose of fraud, copyright infringement and breach of fiduciary duty.

There was no immediate comment from Rose's reps. Deke Arlon, chairman of Sanctuary's publishing division, told E! Online he couldn't discuss the dust-up because "the matter is subject to legal hearings."

The original members of the Los Angeles band drifted apart in the mid-1990s--leaving the band's legacy in dispute. Rose was eventually awarded rights to the Guns N' Roses moniker and continues to play (or not play, as is more often the case) under the GNR banner. But Duff and McKagan sued Rose in April 2004 to determine control of the back catalog.

That breach-of-contract lawsuit, which is still pending, specifically alleges Rose unilaterally blocked the others from licensing Guns music for movie soundtracks, effectively shutting off potential revenue streams to Slash and Duff. The duo claimed Rose "whimsically refuses to license Guns and Roses Music" even though he, they allege, dropped out of the partnership in 1995.

Even with the feuding, the band's studio albums have all gone multiplatinum, and Guns' songs are still among the most requested in the publishing biz. The band's tunes recently turned up--along with Rose's vocal acting talents--in 2004's biggest videogame release, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

What hasn't turned up is Rose's forever-in-the-works album, Chinese Democracy, with his revamped version of Guns N' Roses.

Earlier this year, the New York Times ran a lengthy feature examining how the seemingly mythical Chinese Democracy has failed to surface, despite being finessed in various studios for the better part of the last decade. The article concluded that the delay was due in part to Rose's fabled eccentric and reclusive nature.

In response to the March article, Sanctuary Group CEO Merck Mercuriadis fired off a vitriolic letter to the Times, saying Rose will "have the last laugh" and that the singer is simply a "soft target for the sort of rubbish you have chosen to print."

Last we heard, Sanctuary was aiming for a late November release date for Democracy, but that was before the label's financial problems became public. The company is said to be heavily burdened by debt and is struggling to survive.

Despite their open feuding, Duff, Slash and Rose did manage to reunite last year to sue Universal to block the release of Guns N' Roses Greatest Hits. The band lost, and the album wound up debuting at number three on the Billboard 200 and ultimately sold over 2 million copies.

Copyright (c) 2005 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All rights reserved., http://www.eonline.com/copyright.html

Honestly it's a shame that they couldn't keep things together, cause they were amazing at their peak.

why don't they just fuck and get it over with.

That is bad of Axl to completely disregard the old members like that. Anyway I have just heard that Chinese Democracy is finished recording.

This has been going on too long. I say they fight it out in the boxing ring on live TV.

chico4U said:

ew

but i can see axel doing his "axel dance" to this news

SEXYMOFO said:

Yeah right i'll believe it when I see it.

SEXYMOFO said:

China will actually have a democracy by the time that album drops.

cranshaw62 said:

Axl is Pay Per View material for sure.