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Axl Rose Gets Mixed Result at Hearing in 'Guitar Hero' Lawsuit

Tabitha27

By Tabitha27
in 2012

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Tabitha27

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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/axl-rose-guitar-hero-lawsuit-361946

On Tuesday, a hearing was held in a Los Angeles courtroom concerning a $20 million lawsuit brought by Axl Rose against Activision Blizzard for featuring former Guns N' Roses band-mate Slash in Guitar Hero III.

By the end of the hearing, the judge indicated that he was going to toss Rose's fraud claim but allow his breach-of-contract claim to continue, setting up a potential trial next February.

Rose's attorney Skip Miller promises it will be a "very interesting" affair.

In the suit, Rose and his Black Frog Music claimed that the video game publisher fraudulently induced him into authorizing "Welcome to the Jungle" for use in the popular game by telling him during negotiations that it wouldn't feature any reference to Slash, the guitarist with whom he has been famously feuding for years.

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One of the big problems for Rose has been that the game was released on Oct. 28, 2007. The front cover of Guitar Hero III featured Slash in one of his classic poses. And yet, Rose's lawsuit wasn't filed until late November 2010 more than three years after Rose's agent sent Activision an e-mail objecting. Activision's lawyers pointed out that Rose knew about the objectionable material for quite some time yet didn't file soon enough to be within the statute of limitations.

Why did Rose wait? In his own words...

"The reason I did not file a lawsuit is because Activision -- through my managers and representatives -- offered me a separate video game and other business proposals worth millions of dollars to resolve and settle my claims relating to GHIII," said the GnR' frontman in a deposition. "From December 2007 through November 2010, Activision was offering me a Guns N' Roses dedicated video game, a game dedicated to music from the 'Chinese Democracy' album, and other proposals."

Such possibilities will be of interest to GnR fans, but they might not make for good legal reasoning. Officially, Rose's lawyer attempted to argue that his claims did not accrue until he discovered that "Activision had been intentionally concealing its plans to use [Velvet Revolver] and Slash in the game all along."

But the judge isn't accepting that argument and appears ready to strike the fraud claim because the statute of limitations had expired.

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The lawsuit came close to being tossed altogether over Activision's objection to Rose's breach of contract claim.

GNR Music, which administers publishing rights to the band's songs, licensed Activision to use the big "Jungle" hit. In a series of e-mails sent to Activision after a written synch license was executed, Rose's reps objected to Slash's image being used as an "avatar." Activision went ahead with the game anyway.

In the case, Activision argues that its agreement was with GNR Music, and that "Rose had no authority to enter into a license for 'Welcome to the Jungle' in his individual capacity because he does not own the song or the sound recording."

Activision says Rose himself confirmed this by saying, "Unanimous approval by all three partners of GNR Music is required before any license to use Guns N' Roses music is given."

The synch license was signed on the band's behalf by Wayne Milligan, a licensing administrator at Sussman & Associates. Milligan does work for GNR Music, but it has been Rose's contention that Milligan was also acting as his own personal agent.

Activision attempted to argue this was irrelevant, that there could be no breach of contract because Rose himself didn't have the authority to unilaterally make a deal.

But the judge is primed to allow Rose's breach of contract allegations to be settled at a trial, which is now scheduled for Feb. 1, 2013.

Miller says he's satisfied with the result, that the "damages and harm will be the same with a lower burden of proof" now that he doesn't need to show fraudulent concealment.

David Steinberg, the attorney at Mitchell Silberberg representing Activision, couldn't be reached for comment.

Edited by Tabitha27
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Jakey Styley OH MY GOD

Jakey Styley

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Posted
"From December 2007 through November 2010, Activision was offering me a Guns N' Roses dedicated video game, a game dedicated to music from the 'Chinese Democracy' album, and other proposals."

Neat.

silverarrow Senior

silverarrow

Posted
Posted

It's also on the front of Rolling Stones now :

Half of Axl Rose's Lawsuit Against 'Guitar Hero' to Proceed

Singer sued over inclusion of Slash on cover of video game

Axl Rose had mixed results in a Los Angeles court yesterday regarding a $20 million lawsuit against the makers of Guitar Hero III, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A judge dismissed Rose's fraud claim, but kept a breach-of-contract allegation against Activision Blizzard for including ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash in the video game.

Rose claims that he and his Black Frog Music company cleared "Welcome to the Jungle" after Activision promised them the game wouldn't feature Slash – who subsequently appeared prominently on the front cover when the game came out in 2007.

The Guns N' Roses singer didn't file the lawsuit until three years later, in November 2010, though a representative had emailed Activision about the issue in 2007. Activision says Rose's lawsuit came after the statute of limitations had expired. Though Rose said he didn't file a claim sooner because Activision had made various business proposals "worth millions of dollars" – including a GNR-themed video game dedicated to music from Chinese Democracy, the band's 2008 album – the judge appeared to side with the game publisher.

Rose had better luck with his breach-of-contract claim, which contends that Activision proceeded with the game over Rose's objections to the use of Slash's image. Activision says Rose had no standing to object: the company licensed "Welcome to the Jungle" from GNR Music, the band's publishing arm, which required approval by all three partners: Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan. "Rose had no authority to enter into a license for 'Welcome to the Jungle' in his individual capacity because he does not own the song or the sound recording," Activision argued in court.

Still, a judge scheduled a court date for February 1st, 2013, to settle the breach-of-contract claim.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/half-of-axl-roses-lawsuit-against-guitar-hero-to-proceed-20120815#ixzz23cpk43mf

SONOFABITCH GOD

SONOFABITCH

Posted
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Oh Axl. You pesky Axl you. I encountered the same confusion when I heard Axl on GTA San Andreas as a radio DJ and then I heard Welcome to the Jungle played on the radio during the game. Made me think the old band was back together so I didn't buy the Velvet Revolver album!

HisRoyalSweetness FRONTMAN

HisRoyalSweetness

Posted
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is beta also axl's attorney now? if not, how much longer til it happens?

you know another way axl could get his hands on 20 million dollars? he could write another hit song. why doesn't he just do that?

Edited by HisRoyalSweetness
volcano62 LEGEND

volcano62

Posted
Posted
"From December 2007 through November 2010, Activision was offering me a Guns N' Roses dedicated video game, a game dedicated to music from the 'Chinese Democracy' album, and other proposals."

Neat.

Yeah but CD tracks was done by the better game: Rock Band CoolFace.png

Guest Gunns

Guest Gunns

Posted
Posted (edited)

Why can't they reach some sort of agreemnt and settle it by having Axl duel against Actvision CEO.

Guitar hero round 1

Edited by Gunns
HisRoyalSweetness FRONTMAN

HisRoyalSweetness

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Posted

i can't believe axl was dumb enough to wait out his statute of limitations thinking they were going to make a chinese democracy game. are you fucking kidding me? did he think it would coincide with the re-release of the album containing new and improved liner notes?

Guest Gunns

Guest Gunns

Posted
Posted

i can't believe axl was dumb enough to wait out his statute of limitations thinking they were going to make a chinese democracy game. are you fucking kidding me? did he think it would coincide with the re-release of the album containing new and improved liner notes?

Rb2- dlc

Estranged Reality LEGEND

Estranged Reality

Posted
Posted

It's also on the front of Rolling Stones now :

Half of Axl Rose's Lawsuit Against 'Guitar Hero' to Proceed

Singer sued over inclusion of Slash on cover of video game

This is why the lawsuit was a dumb idea, to be frank. The bad press he's going to get off this is the sort of thing he hates, so why even bother?

All people are going to remember about this is: Oh my god I can't believe that asshole is going after Slash again! Can you believe he's suing them for using Slash on one of his own songs? WTF!

That's not all there is to it, but that's what the pop culture perception will be. It's just more fuel to the fire that "Axl hates Slash," etc.

TeeJay410 SUPER GOD

TeeJay410

Posted
Posted

I think it's quite obvious this is all for money, not merely Guns N' Roses' image. If he really cared about the image he would do a settlement out of court.

...I think the opposite is true. If he just settled that's a garuanteed payday. This way he's gambling $20 million, just to prove a point.

HisRoyalSweetness FRONTMAN

HisRoyalSweetness

Posted
Posted (edited)

I think it's quite obvious this is all for money, not merely Guns N' Roses' image. If he really cared about the image he would do a settlement out of court.

if axl cared about his image, he wouldn't show up to concerts fat with braids in his hair, physically unable to perform the show. especially in the youtube age. but axl's pretty courageous in how he's fearlessly willing to make a giant ass of himself for the whole world to see. as long as he gets paid.

Edited by HisRoyalSweetness
volcano62 LEGEND

volcano62

Posted
Posted

Are you idiots even fans? God this is embarrassing...no wonder why the band don't visit this shit hole anymore.

Are you a fan?

Of course.... What kind of question is that?

sleeper DEMI-GOD

sleeper

Posted
Posted

I think it's quite obvious this is all for money, not merely Guns N' Roses' image. If he really cared about the image he would do a settlement out of court.

...I think the opposite is true. If he just settled that's a garuanteed payday. This way he's gambling $20 million, just to prove a point.

A trial is Axl's best chance to win any thing. The problem is if he wins, Activision will keep him in various appeals courts for years. If he loses Activision could go after him for the money they spent on their defense. In any case Axl is going to need all of his Vegas money!

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