Blackstar

There is also an update in the lawsuit about Axl's mic. This case had gone to mediation (with an independent person as mediator). The mediator has now reported that the case has not been resolved.

I have posted all the new documents here, for those who couldn't open @volxluvr's link (it opens for me only with US VPN): https://www.a-4-d.com/t8102-axl-sued-for-sexual-assault-that-allegedly-took-place-in-1989#35352

It's where it was when I posted the last update: The only thing that happened after that is that Kat filed a motion to dismiss GN'R's lawsuit and the court ruling for that is expected around April 25. Kat's lawsuit is seemingly gone, Fernando is off the hook and the sexual harassment allegations are out of the picture.

He said it during the voice chat on the War Room discord in May 2020 (the audio can be found on youtube - around 1:50:00 minute mark): Fan: Someone in chat asked this question that I think is pretty interesting. There was a rumor that Chinese Democracy 2 was supposed to be released in 2010 and it got turned down by the label. What's the deal with that? Fernando: That's fake. The label never turned down anything that Axl says “I want to put this out”. Fan: There was no Chinese Democracy 2 that was supposed to come out in 2010? Fernando: No, the label never turned down anything. Not saying… The one thing I can tell you for sure is that label would never turn anything down that Axl creates. That kind of answers… I mean, it answers the question, right? Without me telling you something that I can't tell you. Fan: You basically confirm that rumor is false. Fernando: Yeah, rumor is way false. There's no way. It’s like, you know - and that was before even [?] came about. That was when Jimmy Iovine was still there. [...] Fan: So what you just said about the label not turning down anything, so the reason we haven't get any music for 12 years is just because Axl wasn't interested on releasing anything? Fernando: I can't comment on what Axl was willing or not willing to do. You know what I mean? It's up to him to do so. I'm just telling you that whatever you just said to me, it never happened. Because I know that that never happened. Also earlier on Reddit (there being the usual Fernando), although that was about CD and the label in general:

It's on the grounds that the documents were not served properly (and additionally about dismissing some of Kennedy's causes of action). It is accompanied by declarations from Beta, Vanessa's husband, another member of TB and Bernie Githuly (Axl's business manager) saying that they have not been served on Axl's behalf, as well as a picture of the gate the documents were affixed the second time as evidence that the gate is not the "door" at Axl's house.

If marketing is not part of the distribution deal (and even if it is, as @themadcaplaughs explained, it would only be about the label covering some minor marketing costs), it doesn't make a difference whether it's singles or an album as far as promotion from the label is concerned.

This makes a lot of sense. Considering that there was zero promotion for the "new" songs from the label, I would guess marketing is not part of the distribution deal. Regarding Azoff, even Fernando has admitted that he did "some really good shit". But he has also denied that CD2 was ever rejected by the label.

The conclusion of the discussion about this quote on the previous pages is that it's most likely fake, taken from an AI generated "book" site/app (and whoever is working on setting up the Axl website just found it by googling). I guess that in the case of an autobiography this would be taken into consideration, and the release date of the book would be set after the lawsuit issue would be resolved.

UMG still owns the rights to the recordings of old releases (I'm not sure about the current status of AFD and Lies, as GN'R should have retained the rights to the recordings by now due to the time passed), so it probably wouldn't be convenient to move to another label for the distribution of the "new" songs (for which the label acts only as a distributor, as they are owned by GN'R). And given the latter fact (that GN'R owns the rights to the recordings of the four "new" songs), I don't think there are any obstacles from the label that would prevent the release of a new album.

The label appears to still own the rights to the songs that are on the Chinese Democracy album, whereas the rights to the "NITL" singles are registered with the US Copyright Office as owned by Gundam (the GN'R business entity).

The next conference/hearing (which will be the compliance conference about the progress/status of the case) is set for Sept. 24, 2024, and the NOI due date (= the filing date of the form affirming that the depositions phase is completed and the case is ready for trial or other type of judgement) has been moved from Feb. 22, 2025 to Oct. 21, 2024. So I guess there are no service issues. The purpose of the preliminary conference was the setting of the schedule and the case is proceeding with discovery (witness depositions etc.) which should be completed by September.

He wouldn't have to address everything. An autobiography doesn't have to be a tell-all.

Yeah, it's possible that he has bought the rights to certain songs he wants to release.

No updates on the Axl one since his answer was filed.

It was about 6 weeks ago. I tried to explain it in the lawsuit thread here (and since then everything has pointed to the answer to both 1) and 2) being yes):

It's not happening. He's seemingly off the hook in the lawsuit.

I have a few times. In short: According to the liner notes of the recent singles, GN'R owns the rights to the recordings, which means that GN'R, and not the label, paid for the re-recording and production. Which, in turn, may also mean that Axl has bought the rights to the original masters from the label.

You keep saying this, but as I have pointed out to you before, there's indication that Axl has bought the rights to the CD era material. (I know It's probably pointless to respond to any of your posts as I reckon that, like you always do, you'll once again ignore it and just keep saying your thing without engaging into a conversation).

I really think it could be about his tequila brand or something like that, and maybe he'll do some promo.

Yeah, I saw that. Also when the homepage comes up in google search, it has the introduction from the wikipedia article on Axl (so it seems that the developers originally used wikipedia as a source).

Whatever its purpose is, the website is not fake. It's real, and it's been launched and is operated by Live Nation, so naturally there's been speculation about what that may mean.

Yes, the privacy policy page on the website. But I was talking about when the TikTok account was created.

The company that set up the website: https://theskylineagency.com/

Didn't you know that Live Nation is the promoter of the GN'R tours?