TMZ Runs Story About Leaks, GN'R Management Publicly Responds

[Padme]

3 minutes ago, ManetsBR said:

Don't lose yourself. Tom Zutaut rightfully had the tracks; he was the producer.

Any other artist's producer losing their boss' work to the point of it leaking online would be absurd. Somehow GNR managed to convince us the problem was actually on the people who found it. 

The whole thing is insane. Zutaut left the music in some storage located in Virginia for I don't know how long. The bills of the starage were not paid. So everything went up in an auction. How come Axl, TB and maybe previous managers didn't do anything about before?

[Blackstar]

6 minutes ago, ManetsBR said:

Don't lose yourself. Tom Zutaut rightfully had the tracks; he was the producer.

He wasn't the producer; Roy Thomas Baker was the producer at that time. Tom Zutaut was like an outside executive/coordinator or something like that.

[ManetsBR]

Well, still. He wasn't the album producer but he was still Axl's producer, Axl's production adviser or whatever. He rightfully had the music. 

Edited January 3, 2020 by ManetsBR

[Blackstar]

2 minutes ago, ManetsBR said:

Well, still. He wasn't the album producer but he was still Axl's producer, Axl's production adviser or whatever. He rightfully had the music. 

He didn't have the rights on it, obviously. The label and Axl did.

[Padme]

1 minute ago, Blackstar said:

He didn't have the rights on it, obviously. The label and Axl did.

They didn't give a shit about it until now. That's the point! How come they didn't know that Zutaut sent 20cds of music to some storage locker in Virginia? 

[ManetsBR]

I'm not saying he had the rights to the songs. When I say he got them rightfully I mean he didn't get it the "wrong" way. 

[Live Like a Suicide]

While i am immensely grateful for the leaks, Rick Dunsford was a fucking retard to allegedly deal with notorious people in the purchase of the leaks and then attach his face to the transaction while bragging online. He has fallen on his own sword. I can't say I feel sorry for him - he should have had more sense.

[guitarpatch]

17 minutes ago, ManetsBR said:

I'm not saying he had the rights to the songs. When I say he got them rightfully I mean he didn't get it the "wrong" way. 

People who work with artists have access to material all of the time. That’s how they do their job. In this case, he rightfully had session mixes he was listening to give feedback

He obviously kept kept them and unless he was told to return them, they are his. He just can’t distribute them.

Thing is this. If you work in the industry, you don’t let that stuff get out. You won’t find work again and it’s a good way to burn bridges.
 

So either Zutant is done working in that field, so he doesn’t care about that issue, the relationships are so frayed that it doesn’t matter to him where that stuff ends up, and/or he just plain forgot to pay his bills and had an expired card/old phone number/email attached to the locker 

Edited January 3, 2020 by guitarpatch

[Ratam]

4 hours ago, sofine11 said:

Not a terribly good look for the band.  They should be suing Tom Zutaut, not a diehard fan.

Might wanna counter this with some positive news. ::AHEM::

Agree, i think that Zutaut is the responsible principal about it, poor Rick, he is the most weak link 

[Blackstar]

1 hour ago, Padme said:

They didn't give a shit about it until now. That's the point! How come they didn't know that Zutaut sent 20cds of music to some storage locker in Virginia? 

I think the alleged storage locker wasn't in Virginia (the alleged original buyer of it was from there), but anyway, this detail is not important.

Apparently Zutaut had these copies from the time he worked on the project, and as he was out of it abruptly, he didn't give them back, no one asked them from him and then everyone forgot. Probably other people who worked with the band through the years (producers etc) have copies of material, but I assume everyone had signed contracts (including Zutaut).

Rick claims that he had informed TB when he heard about the auction. However (according to the story we knew until now, also as claimed by Rick) the original auction was done by that point and Rick and another person found out when the original buyer was selling part of the content. The other person bought from the original buyer.

The alleged locker didn't contain only these 20 CDs, but also stuff from the AFD and UYI eras (nothing unheard, though, so not so "valuable") as well as Izzy's unreleased demos from the Ju Ju Hounds era. Those were bought by other people.

We don't know what, if anything, TB or the label did at that point (always supposing that Rick's story is true). The other two buyers haven't said anything in public.

Then Rick went public about it last summer and said out in the open that he was going to the original buyer in Virginia to buy the leaks for $15,000 and other fans got involved to share the cost with him. Another individual, who has been accused for the video takedowns, allegedly accompanied Rick in his trip to Virginia. At that point TB and the label got involved, approached Rick (through lawyers) and made a deal with him in writing: they would buy back from him the usb stick with the songs. So they paid him $15,000 to give the fans who had "invested" their money back. All that, I assume, on the condition that nothing would leak.

About two months later, in September, though, everything leaked. And while everything was leaking, Rick and the "unnamed" individual were accusing and ratting each other to TB. Also audio from Rick's phone conversations with various people during the trip were posted on the internet (probably the person who accompanied him on the trip had recorded him). The alleged Fernando account on reddit said hadn't he had a clear picture yet of what exactly had gone down, but said Rick had gotten himself into trouble.

Then, in October, there was Rick's "banning" from the band's shows when he showed up at one (around the day the last of the CDs leaked), because he supposedly had breached his contract.

Now it seems that the label threatens to take legal action. Or maybe this is not a recent development, the C&D letter was sent in October but Rick gave it to TMZ now.

The new thing, though, is that TB in their response to TMZ directly accuse Zutaut not of simply "forgetting" the CDs in an unpaid storage locker, but auctioning them himself. So it seems that TB don't buy the "storage locker" story and think that Zutaut just had the CDs and put them in an auction - what they're basically implying is that the whole storage locker story was bogus. The question is if they have proof for this.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Blackstar

[Ratam]

4 hours ago, Lio said:

So Rick getting 15k was the truth and Zutaut auctioned the stuff off himself?

How come they quote a rep in the beginning and at the end they say reps don't wish to comment?

I noted it too, it article is a bit contradictory.

[Live Like a Suicide]

4 hours ago, RussTCB said:

It just seems so odd that TMZ is running this now. 

There's literally no new information in the main article. The "response" from management isn't even anything new. That's not a shot at TB, but its just nothing new is all. 

It's just very, very odd to me that TMZ would choose to run this months and months after it seemed to be over. 

Slow news day perhaps? 

My guess is that UMG has begun to seriously pursue the case against Rick and, potentially, Tom.  In response, Rick probably ran to TMZ and gave them his C&D letter as background info to fight the case in the spotlight.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Live Like a Suicide

[TheSeeker]

Yeah it’s better for Rick that the media turns Axl into the bad guy in this situation, regardless of how everything went down 

[RussTCB]

20 minutes ago, Creed said:

Or the start of promos for the march album...

Who would start promoting an album by making big news out of suing a "superfan"? 

 

Oh, that's right, this is GN'R we're talking about lol

[Live Like a Suicide]

Just now, RussTCB said:

Who would start promoting an album by making big news out of suing a "superfan"? 

 

Oh, that's right, this is GN'R we're talking about lol

I would like to think TB would outsource promotions and marketing for a new album to UMG's communications department, lol.

But yeah, as you say, there is no way in hell that this is the beginning of the promotions for a new album. 

[Ratam]

I feel that Rick is a little naive, and himself put in the wolf mouth, sadly.

[GnR Chris]

It's weird that TMZ didn't change the headline once they received an official response from GNR's camp. The article really doesn't mention that GNR are suing Dunsford, really. GNR's response seems to place the blame squarely with Zutaut.

Edited January 3, 2020 by GnR Chris

[GnR Chris]

4 hours ago, alfierose said:

Were there comments on the article at one point? The icon at the top shows 471 comments but underneath says comments not available. Did they get shut off?

I can see the comments and they're brutal. Talking about Axl being late still.

[Blackstar]

Tom Zutaut attended one of the festival shows last autumn. I wonder what went down there and if he talked with anyone.

It's also worth reminding that Zutaut has said that his ousting from the project back then was due to a setup by people around Axl who didn't want him there (implying Beta probably). So TB and Zutaut don't like each other, to put it mildly.

[Arnuld]

I very much doubt Zutaut auctioned off anything to anyone. The original story of the locker going into default makes a lot more sense. 

[RussTCB]

33 minutes ago, GnR Chris said:

I can see the comments and they're brutal. Talking about Axl being late still.

That's not so much brutal as it is uninformed. 

[double talkin jive mfkr]

32 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Tom Zutaut attended one of the festival shows last autumn. I wonder what went down there and if he talked with anyone.

It's also worth reminding that Zutaut has said that his ousting from the project back then was due to a setup by people around Axl who didn't want him there (implying Beta probably). So TB and Zutaut don't like each other, to put it mildly.

TB's MO not axls 

is to cut everyone out from his pre 91 life 

meegan is a threat 

erin is a threat

slash is a threat 

izzy and canter are a big threat 

zutaut is a threat 

niven is an inconvenient reminding threat 

goldstein is a loser 

adler is not a threat hes a nippy dog 

even duff is a threat if he didn't share the same 100% greed trait with them 

stephanie is a question mark ? they must think well its how we met him and axl loves her like an enigma so maybe shes in some other weird category

TB want to take credit for axl's success as in him being gigantically successful b/c of their involvement in his life post 91 and all they have to show for it is some bichy little argument about some stolen bunk CD's from a stupid highschool changing room locker 

Edited January 3, 2020 by double talkin jive mfkr

[axlvai]

Really hope no one of this leaks would be on next gnr record. Please.

 

Fuck the shit recorded on 99 to 20XX. Is time to create new music.

[kiwiguns]

40 minutes ago, double talkin jive mfkr said:

TB's MO not axls 

is to cut everyone out from his pre 91 life 

meegan is a threat 

erin is a threat

slash is a threat 

izzy and canter are a big threat 

zutaut is a threat 

niven is an inconvenient reminding threat 

goldstein is a loser 

adler is not a threat hes a nippy dog 

even duff is a threat if he didn't share the same 100% greed trait with them 

stephanie is a question mark ? they must think well its how we met him and axl loves her like an enigma so maybe shes in some other weird category

TB want to take credit for axl's success as in him being gigantically successful b/c of their involvement in his life post 91 and all they have to show for it is some bichy little argument about some stolen bunk CD's from a stupid highschool changing room locker 

Absolutely no proof of any of that, only your assumptions. 

If you read the article the main entity involved is an individual and UMG. 

No mention of the bands current management being involved. 

The article states a band representative  as making a comment on the situation.

That could be anyone including a UMG rep to a legal representative who are separate from the bands management team. 

Did you ever stop to think that the bands management team are not commenting because, this issue is being handled by others or UMG as they are the ones taking legal action against the individual. 

Edited January 3, 2020 by kiwiguns

[megaguns1982]

I’d love to know what other bands zutaut was associated with back then, that locker could have had way more cds of unheard material by lots of cool bands.