According to a story at Reuters, Axl Rose has today filed a $20 million lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. It seems the Guns N’ Roses frontman only agreed to allow the inclusion of “Welcome to the Jungle” in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock as long as there was no reference to former GNR guitarist Saul Hudson (better known as Slash) or his subsequent band Velvet Revolver.
Rose apparently doesn’t like him very much.
As it turns out, Slash was featured prominently on the game’s cover and three Velvet Revolver songs were released as DLC the week following the game’s release. Rose says he knew about the cover art and VR songs but was told their inclusion was just for the purposes of a trade show.
The complaint states:
“[Activision] began spinning a web of lies and deception to conceal its true intentions to not only feature Slash and VR prominently in 'GH III,' but also promote the game by emphasizing and reinforcing an association between Slash and Guns N Roses and the band's song 'Welcome to the Jungle.'"
Rose also claims “Sweet Child ‘O Mine,” a Guns N’ Roses song licensed for Guitar Hero II, was used in an online promotion for Guitar Hero III. His lawyer Skip Miller said:
"This lawsuit is about protecting Guns N' Roses and 'Welcome to the Jungle,' and is about holding Activision accountable for its misuse of these incredibly valuable assets. The relief we are seeking is disgorgement of profits and compensatory and punitive damages."
-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Correspondent Andrew Eisen
Comments
Re: Axl Rose Sues Activision Blizzard Over 3-Year-Old Game
Re: Axl Rose Sues Activision Blizzard Over 3-Year-Old Game
Re: Axl Rose Sues Activision Blizzard Over 3-Year-Old Game
I'd be curious to see how the contract is actually worded, but logically it makes sense to connect Slash with Welcome to the Jungle, because he co-wrote the song. In fact, according to Wikipedia, Welcome to the Jungle was the first song co-written by Axl and Slash.
I could understand Axl getting pissed if Slash was being associated with music he had nothing to do with, but Slash was a prominent member of the band when that song was made. And insisting that the game not contain any songs from Velvet Revolver just makes Axl sound like a spoiled child, but what else is new.
Re: Axl Rose Sues Activision Blizzard Over 3-Year-Old Game
Ethically, it's indefensible. Legally? Well, we'll just have to see. Like you say, it depends on how the contract's worded. It's also a question of whether Axl owns the sole rights -- if he co-wrote it with Slash, that means Slash may be entitled to co-ownership, in which case Axl's permission is not required for use; you only need one co-owner's permission to use a property, you just need to compensate all owners for that use.
My guess is we'll see a settlement and Axl will get a little bit of the huge amount of money Activision made from the game. It's entirely possible that Activision DID deliberately misled him and intended all along to settle later; that would be a financially savvy thing to do, as whatever he gets out of this will likely be much less than the benefit Activision received using Slash and Guns and Roses to promote the game.
Re: Axl Rose Sues Activision Blizzard Over 3-Year-Old Game
so axl is throwing a temper because activision's playing with him and slash (so to speak)? this sounds petty, imo.
Re: Axl Rose Sues Activision Blizzard Over 3-Year-Old Game
Well, we're talking Axl Rose here; a man known for his strange and erratic behavior. Why do you think it took over a decade for Chinese Democracy to come out?
Re: Axl Rose Sues Activision Blizzard Over 3-Year-Old Game
Re: Axl Rose Sues Activision Blizzard Over 3-Year-Old Game
Re: Axl Rose Sues Activision Blizzard Over 3-Year-Old Game
Hi, I'm just popping in to say I found Welcome to the Jungle very annoying(mostly because of the singer's voice).