Axl Rose Suing Activision for $20 Million

Guns 'N Roses frontman Axl Rose filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard today claiming the company violated a deal by using imagery of guitarist Saul Hudson (aka Slash) while also including the band's hit song "Welcome to the Jungle" in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

[PirateThom]

Wow... I'm not sure who I want to lose more.

[firefoxprime]

It sucks to see any company get sued, although...Activision has milked many franchises. Fortunately, not "all" of said games were just yearly updates.

[guitarded77]

I dislike Activision... but I hate Axl Rose. Axl is a D-BAG, he is the reason there is no more Guns n Roses. Hope the asshole loses and spends all his money losing. I don't care if he's right... he's a d-bag.

[SoapShoes]

@guitarded77

Um, no he's not... Every one played their own part in it disbanding. However, I'd say drugs were the biggest reason they aren't together anymore.

[dragon82]

Drugs and Axl's massive ego.

[PS360fanboy]

Always the same douchebag... just quit it Axl! Need to pay for that Chinese Democracy album?

[NeutralGamer]

God plz make Kotickvision loose!

[ElementX]

As if Axl Rose wasn't rich enough....

[Biggunz]

and they violated a agreement.

[Anorexorcist]

Either way, for the past couple years Kurt Cobain has been making more money, and he's dead.

The fact that Axl Rose still calls his band "Guns N' Roses" is a joke. He is the only original member in the band, and by reading the article he clearly does not want anything to do with any former bandmates. He also didn't want GNR's most mainstream song "Welcome To The Jungle" in the game? Why the hell not?

Today, there is no Gun's N Roses, it's just Axl Rose N' Friends.

[BeOneWithTheGun]

No, it's not that he didn't want the song in the game, in fact, he wanted it to be but he said they could not use any prior member's "likeness" as well.

So, they snuck in Slash and that is why he is pissed.

[SnuggleBandit]

he should just join coon and friends at this point lol

[SoapShoes]

Eh, I don't see a problem in this. Anyway I can't wait for a new album! CD was pretty good, but I know they have lots of material out there.

*Edit* I see a lot of Axl hate. Probably due to the media's vendetta against him for not whoring himself to get them money. He's a nice guy in person.

[guitarded77]

Axl's a c#nt... 6 out of 6 ex-Guns members agree. And if you know anything about being in a band, if the bass player thinks someone's a c#nt, then they are definitely a c#nt.

[SoapShoes]

That's why Duff recently played with him on stage and had dinner with him afterwords? Man, you people think you know everything about a person without ever meeting him.

[evrfighter]

ya he's a real nice guy

http://therecshow.com/axl-r...

[gtsentry]

activision doesnt even care,theyre making hundreds of millions off of blak ops

[SpaceFox]

Haha, Activision is definitely gonna lose this one.

[PS360PCROCKS]

hahaha! Awesome, suck it Kotick. Isn't this one of many lawsuits they have for breaking agreements now? Wtf is wrong with that shoddy company??

[SoapShoes]

Kotick makes it big with corrupt deals but they will eventually come back to bite him in the ass.

[Darth_Bane79]

GOOD JOB AXL!!!! FUCK YOU & YOUR MOTHER BOBBY KOTICK!!!!!

[SKUD]

Axl Rose is alive?. MIND = BLOWN.

[George Sears]

So he woke up and just felt like suing a three year old game huh?

He is probably pissed off that Slash has more talent than him. What a dickface.

[SoapShoes]

Slash is a media whore that hasn't done anything good since Guns N' Roses. His solo albums weren't good and Velvet Revolver only had a few good songs. I love his work in Guns N' Roses though and he is one of my favorite guitarists from the 80s.

Axl can actually sing but if you want to talk about who had the most talent, Izzy had way more talent than Slash as he actually wrote a lot of their songs.

[DaBadGuy]

Slither is the only Velvet Revolver song I like, but She Builds Quick Machines is okay.

I like pretty much all of the original Guns stuff pre-Spaghetti Incident, except for Sympathy for the Devil, which was after, but was good.

Admittedly, they did sort of change between Appetite and Use Your Illusion.

Example?

Listen to Anything Goes or You're Crazy.

Now listen to Estranged or November Rain.

Don't get me wrong, they are all good songs, but something definately changed in their style.

And then there was My World. That was.....different.

[GuruStarr78]

Gotta love Axl......He never changes.....I saw him and his "Guns and Roses" a few years back here in Chicago. I was lucky, he ended up cancelling the next day in Milwaukee and subsequently the rest of the tour.

[jons9559]

Slash actually allowed them 2 use imaging of him in the game so it doesnt make sense why hes suing for that

[George Sears]

TBH I too don't understand his defense in this case. Maybe because Slash isn't in the band anymore? Because Guitar Hero (Guitar Hero 3 was when the franchise was in its prime btw) is basically free publicity for what was once an awesome band?

Besides, Slash still uses his signature hat and look so that has nothing to do with GNR in general. Also, Slash approved to be in the game and he's even in the promotional ad for it. (Playing a Velvet Revolver one which ironically isn't even in the game)

Looking at it in Slash's perspective though, he is basically promoting himself as the talented guitar payer/musician that he is and not as just another GnR member that he has distance himself a long ass time ago. Now in Activision's POV, having Slash not only helps the game image but it also reminds people of Guns n Roses.

[Bathyj]

I dont care if Axl is a prick, his property is his property, and if Activision wrongly used it and made billions then f*(k them right in their ears.

Put aside your personal feelings about the personalities involved and ask yourself, who is in the right here.

Besides, GnR is my favourite band. I saw them in their hayday, and I saw them a couple years ago and they still FKN rocked hard.

It proved to me the only person in that band who is not replacable is Axl, and I say that even with Slash being my favourite guitarist.

The man is a genius, no doubt, but anyone who can play can play his songs. Axl is Gun N Roses, even if he is a douche(which I dont actually know for myself, never met the guy. I dont put much stock into tabloid magazines or E and the like. They want hits just like all these douche websites.)

Having said all that, there go my chances for the only Guitar Hero game I care about anymore, GH:GNR. Maybe Axl likes Rockband.

[DaBadGuy]

Axl must like Rock Band, he gave them the first official release of any songs off Chinese Democracy with Shacklers Revenge, then the whole album with DLC.

Rock Band doesn't have any real rock stars in the games except for the spinoff games like Beatles and Green Day.

I'd at least like their old stuff to be released as DLC.

Appetite for Destruction, GNR Lies, Use Your Illusion 1 and 2, and....Spaghetti Incident I suppose.

Bring em on.

[SnakePlissken]

Its so easy, so fuckin easy!!!!!

[IrishYamato]

When this court case is over, Kotick will be knockin' on heavens door, looking for a loan of a fiver.

[DXM1]

this greedy fuck should apply for a job with Microsoft.

[KotC]

Axl Rose needs the money because Burger King isn't paying him enough.

[Death]

Axl owns the name, but he shares joint ownership of the GnR backcatalog with Slash and Duff. In order to use the song, all three had to give consent. Axl would only do it if Slash's likeness wasn't used according to the lawsuit. If this isn't petty, I'm not really sure what is. This goes way beyond a silly and boreline pathetic attempt to still control his former bandmates. Axl still gets royalties for the song and his fanbase gets the joy of playing it. Potential new fans are also exposed to GnR's music. It's a win-win for everyone involved including Axl, but not his incredibly narcissistic ego which pretty much prematurely killed the band and is still chipping away at whats left of their reputation.

Believe me when I say I would love to see the original post Traci Guns band back together to make a proper GnR album, but that is going to happen well after the cure for cancer and world peace, recorded in a very chilly froze over hell recording studio. This frivolous lawsuit is just another nail in the GnR coffin.

Thanks Axl.

[femshep]

lawlz isn't he about 5 years to late? i meant hwo many guitar hero games has there been? i think i stopped playing guitar hero after 3

[Bonerjam]

Put that in your pipe and smoke it kotick. Oh and after that please shoot yourself.

[CrzyFooL]

Axl Rose and Fuck Activision.

[UltimateSin]

He just realized this 3 years after the game was made? Lay off the stuff Axl.

[earbus]

Suing activision wont change the fack he has a pathetic voice live lol bloody ranga.

[TacoBurrito]

didnt GH3 come out in 07? And NOW hes suing them? WTF

[CombineElite]

Guns N Roses were just as hard as N.W.A. back in the day. Some great music from both groups.

[lizard81288]

you can use my songs, but i don't want to see any of the band members during the song?!

[creamsoda]

Wow 20 million? He needs to sue them for more it is Activi$ion after all.

[madcowz64]

Hahahaha he'll lose..

[Darkfiber]

Rockstars...always wantin' more.

[Lordsolidusx]

Guitar hero 3 has been out for how long and they haven't done anything by now?