An Interview with Former Guns N’ Roses Manager Alan Niven

[Original]

Skip past the Great White part to the GnR half.

Niven- The biggest giggle I got was Axl paying Kostabi $75,000 for the (UYI's) cover paintings...he didn't understand the images were public domain...he didn't have to pay anything for their use.  But then, look at how Yoda (Sharon) conned him.  ANother $75,000 for an "Exorcism".  Talk about the vulnerable being taken advantage of. 

 

https://vwmusicrocks.com/an-interview-with-former-guns-n-roses-manager-alan-niven/

 

 

[Ratam]

27 minutes ago, Original said:

Skip past the Great White part to the GnR half.

Niven- The biggest giggle I got was Axl paying Kostabi $75,000 for the (UYI's) cover paintings...he didn't understand the images were public domain...he didn't have to pay anything for their use.  But then, look at how Yoda (Sharon) conned him.  ANother $75,000 for an "Exorcism".  Talk about the vulnerable being taken advantage of. 

 

https://vwmusicrocks.com/an-interview-with-former-guns-n-roses-manager-alan-niven/

 

 

He suggest that Axl is a silly person.

[Blackstar]

Alan Niven's interviews are always interesting to read. But, on the other hand, his bitterness makes them read almost like comedy.

Interesting implication about Tom Zutaut's storage locker

But, regarding Bob Clearmountain's UYI mixes, Clearmountain had told a different story back in the day; Slash has also told a different story:

 

[Ratam]

9 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Alan Niven's interviews are always interesting to read. But, on the other hand, his bitterness makes them read almost like comedy.

Interesting implication about Tom Zutaut's storage locker

But, regarding Bob Clearmountain's UYI mixes, Clearmountain had told a different story back in the day; Slash has also told a different story:

 

He can't let's go after many years his resentment about Axl.

[Debt]

Just now, Ratam said:

He can't let's go after many years his resentment about Axl.

No he cannot. And Axl is Alans only reason for relevance. Saying he wish he didnt sign the contract. What a joke. He has as much credibility as Doug. 

[6lake sa66ath]

Yep, as much as I take a guilty pleasure in listening to/reading another Niven ‘revelatory’ interview, he certainly comes across as a bitter ex more than he needs to and afterwards you can’t help but feel guilty for what you just went through!

[ShadowOfTheWave]

1 hour ago, Ratam said:

He suggest that Axl is a silly person.

Coming from a man who thought Axl was serving Satan by playing in AC/DC, he shouldn't be throwing stones.

[MaskingApathy]

Not him again 

[Nice Boy]

Anyone notice in that new Gibson interview, Slash couldn’t bring himself to say Niven’s name in the two anecdotes he told featuring him, he just referred to Niven as the management at the time etc lol

Edited September 1, 2022 by Nice Boy

[Ratam]

2 hours ago, ShadowOfTheWave said:

Coming from a man who thought Axl was serving Satan by playing in AC/DC, he shouldn't be throwing stones.

Yeah! Apparently he become in a very religious too.

[Ugly_Kid_Jose]

the mark kostabi painting was a thing very different to the michaelangelo painting, in terms of visual impact.

[Sosso]

11 minutes ago, Ugly_Kid_Jose said:

the mark kostabi painting was a thing very different to the michaelangelo painting, in terms of visual impact.

Also, it's Axl's business if he wants to pay someone or not. 

[rocknroll41]

Pretty sure Kostabi’s exact image with that exact color scheme and all would still be copyrighted, despite being BASED on public domain work. That’s like saying I can use footage from one of those Disney Princess movies for something without having to pay them just because they’re based on public domain fairytales, which is just simply not true. If I did that Disney would sue my ass lol.

[Karice]

About Use Your Illusions Albums, I, being a newer Guns N'Roses Fan had been baffled on why some songs on YouTube had the album being a blue background, and some had the album being a orangish background. It didn't even cross my mind that they are two different albums. I soon after learned that they are two different albums. I didn't notice the Roman Numeral I (1) and the Roman Numeral II (2)  at first either.

[themadcaplaughs]

32 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said:

Pretty sure Kostabi’s exact image with that exact color scheme and all would still be copyrighted, despite being BASED on public domain work. That’s like saying I can use footage from one of those Disney Princess movies for something without having to pay them just because they’re based on public domain fairytales, which is just simply not true. If I did that Disney would sue my ass lol.

It's this. The artist created a derivative work using public domain images. If the band had used those specifically without the artist's permission, it would have been a violation of copyright. Taking existing works in public domain and creating a new work constitutes a creative work protected by copyright. While I am (in a former life) an intellectual property attorney, this is not advanced copyright law. This is "read the first page of a book on copyright" level of knowledge. The fact that Alan, their manager at the time who enjoys talking about how business savvy he is, did not understand this easy concept and continues to say it in the era when a Wikipedia perusal would prove him wrong is laughable, and shows why they may have parted ways. 

For all of the douche chills Matt Sorum's book provided, I did feel he was fairly accurate and heartfelt in his assessment of others, and I specifically remember he talks about how Alan liked to act like Peter Grant and pretend he was the brains behind the GN'R empire, but ultimately just jumped how high Axl, Duff, and Slash told him to. 

[6lake sa66ath]

Spot on with his comments re: Chi Dem though to be fair imho 

[Italian girl]

55 minutes ago, rocknroll41 said:

Pretty sure Kostabi’s exact image with that exact color scheme and all would still be copyrighted, despite being BASED on public domain work. That’s like saying I can use footage from one of those Disney Princess movies for something without having to pay them just because they’re based on public domain fairytales, which is just simply not true. If I did that Disney would sue my ass lol.

Niven is ignorant

[rocknroll41]

Maybe he meant that Axl should’ve used his own piece of School of Athens with his own unique color scheme? Instead of taking the one from Kostabi? Idk.

Fun side fact: Mark Kostabi’s brother was the original guitarist of White Zombie, and he was the one who came up with the name Use Your Illusion for the painting.

Edited September 2, 2022 by rocknroll41

[Blackstar]

8 hours ago, rocknroll41 said:

Maybe he meant that Axl should’ve used his own piece of School of Athens with his own unique color scheme? Instead of taking the one from Kostabi? Idk.

Here's what Niven said in another interview:

The Use Your Illusion sleeves were based on a detail from Raphael’s painting The School Of Athens, a priceless Renaissance masterpiece that hangs in the Vatican. It was completed in 1511, which, as Niven swiftly realised, meant that it was out of copyright by several centuries. “I’m looking at it and thinking, ‘Great – when it comes to the merchandising, we don’t have to pay Kostabi or anybody else a dime: these things are in the public domain’,” says Niven. “Those images that Axl paid a huge fortune for, he could have basically had for free. It always made me smile to think of Axl writing a huge cheque to this guy Kostabi when he could have had Del James paint similar backgrounds, cut out the same image, stick it on and give Del a six pack.”

https://www.a-4-d.com/t1827-2011-06-dd-classic-rock-magazine-behind-use-your-illusion

 

[Lio]

22 minutes ago, Blackstar said:

Here's what Niven said in another interview:

The Use Your Illusion sleeves were based on a detail from Raphael’s painting The School Of Athens, a priceless Renaissance masterpiece that hangs in the Vatican. It was completed in 1511, which, as Niven swiftly realised, meant that it was out of copyright by several centuries. “I’m looking at it and thinking, ‘Great – when it comes to the merchandising, we don’t have to pay Kostabi or anybody else a dime: these things are in the public domain’,” says Niven. “Those images that Axl paid a huge fortune for, he could have basically had for free. It always made me smile to think of Axl writing a huge cheque to this guy Kostabi when he could have had Del James paint similar backgrounds, cut out the same image, stick it on and give Del a six pack.”

https://www.a-4-d.com/t1827-2011-06-dd-classic-rock-magazine-behind-use-your-illusion

 

I find it funny that Niven, a guy active in (music) arts himself, would want to rip off an artist and mocks Axl for paying an artist for his work. If anything, it paints Axl in a good picture, wanting to recompensate an artist for the use of his work, even if it was based on the School of Athens.

[guitarpatch]

Niven thinks pretty highly of himself. He’s obviously upset that Doug crossed him, when in reality he probably would have ran things similarly if things moved forward. Everyone involved in that circle were there to squeeze every last penny out of the situation before someone died or the band imploded. There was no long term vision outside of who to tie yourself with to survive. For Doug, that was Axl. The health and well being of everyone there came last 

The album artwork thing is hilarious. He’s probably looking to get one over on everyone. If he were representing me, I’d worry that he was willing to do that to his artists as well 

“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side” - Hunter S Thompson 

Edited September 2, 2022 by guitarpatch

[themadcaplaughs]

Ok: fair enough that Alan did specify that he wanted to have similar artwork created using the existing public domain work. I retract my previous statements. That being said, as @Lio said, it speaks better to Axl that he paid the money to take the work that inspired and pay appropriately for it, instead of just making his own "knock-off" version (which very likely would have caused litigation regardless). 

[SoulMonster]

Funny how Niven chastises previous managers for not shielding Axl from charlatans who would scam him out of money (Yoda and the exorcism), yet later in the same interview he gleefully recounts that Axl paid money for something he could have reproduced himself for free...when he was the manager. Double standards?

[Debt]

On 9/1/2022 at 7:09 PM, rocknroll41 said:

Pretty sure Kostabi’s exact image with that exact color scheme and all would still be copyrighted, despite being BASED on public domain work. That’s like saying I can use footage from one of those Disney Princess movies for something without having to pay them just because they’re based on public domain fairytales, which is just simply not true. If I did that Disney would sue my ass lol.

It would. Niven has been saying this for years. He is an idiot. Maybe Axl just wanted to compensate an artist for his work out of respect. 

[Chuzeville]

On 9/2/2022 at 1:43 AM, Ugly_Kid_Jose said:

the mark kostabi painting was a thing very different to the michaelangelo painting, in terms of visual impact.

*Rafaello

I'm pretty sure Kostabi's intervention made it its own work and justified paying rights to Kostabi. Even if they had used a simple photography of the fresco in the Vatican (it doesn't hang; it's painted on the wall), the photographer would have been entitles to a fee.

Edited September 5, 2022 by Chuzeville