G N'R Sued Over Chinese Democracy

LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Two indie record labels have launched a lawsuit against Guns N' Roses, claiming that the band illegally sampled of German electronic artist Ulrich Schnauss' songs.

The suit, filed by UK-based label Independiente and the U.S. branch of Domino Recording Company seeks $1 million in damages, naming both the band and their label, Universal Music Group in the suit.

The band's manager Irving Azoff has come out (unsurprisingly) in the band's defense.

"The band vigorously contests these claims and intends to respond accordingly," Azoff said in a statement. "The band believed when the record came out and still believes that there are no unauthorized samples on the track. The snippets of 'ambient noise' in question were provided by a member of the album's production team who has assured us that these few seconds of sound were obtained legitimately. Artists these days can't read the minds of those they collaborate with and therefore are unfortunately vulnerable to claims like this one. While the band resents the implication that they would ever use another artist's work improperly and are assessing possible counterclaims, they are confident this situation will be satisfactorily resolved."

According to Azoff, the band was assured by a member of the album's production team that the ambient samples used in the track "Riad N' the Bedouins" had been legitimately obtained, Billboard said.

The album that sparked the lawsuit, "Chinese Democracy" has been contentious album from the start. The album took two decades to release, cost an estimated $13 million to produce and premiered to initially tepid sales (its since managed certify platinum and has shifted 5 million units worldwide) and not quite 600,000 units domestically. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers