GUNS N' ROSES Manager Denies Band Illegally Borrowed Music From German Artist

October 6, 2009

GUNS N' ROSES manager Irving Azoff has released a statement in response to claims the band illegally borrowed music from two songs by a German musician on its last album, "Chinese Democracy".

British label Independiente and the U.S. arm of Domino Recording Company, who own the licensing rights to songs by German electronic musician Ulrich Schnauss, allege that singer Axl Rose and GUNS N' ROSES band members and album producers copied portions of two of Schnauss' songs — "Wherever You Are" and "A Strangely Isolated Place" (hear audio below) — for a song used on the band's last GN'R album called "Riad N' the Bedouins".

Azoff's full statement reads as follows:

"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."

The lawsuit, filed on Friday but made available on Monday, seeks $1 million in damages.

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