Man Arrested, Accused Of Posting 9 Unreleased GUNS N' ROSES Songs

August 27, 2008

Scott Glover of the Los Angeles Times reports that a man accused of posting nine previously unreleased songs by the rock band GUNS N' ROSES on a web site where they could be accessed by the public was arrested at his home early today (Wednesday, August 27) on suspicion of violating federal copyright laws, authorities said.

Kevin Cogill (a.k.a. Skwerl),27, is accused of posting the songs, which were being prepared for commercial release, on the Internet blog Antiquiet in June, according to an arrest affidavit. The site received so much traffic after the songs were posted that it crashed, the affidavit states.

Read the entire article at the Los Angeles Times.

Cogill reportedly used to work in the distribution department of Universal Music and is now a web designer. He told Rolling Stone that he got the music from an "anonymous online source." He also explained he was initially told to take the files down by "a really cool guy from the GN'R camp that was a middleman between someone who was very angry and me. He was trying to reach out and see if I'd go without a fight, which is more or less what I did."

The blogger thought the ordeal was over until two young FBI officers he described as "Mulder and Scully types" showed up at his day job and questioned him for 15 minutes. "It was kind of an ambush," Cogill said. "When I came back from lunch, they were waiting in the lobby for me. It's a little creepy they know where I work."

As for any potential legal trouble, Cogill told Rolling Stone in June he wasn't too worried because he only streamed the tracks. "It's a legal gray area since it wasn't for download, it wasn't a finished product. We aren't sure who owns the recordings. I feel like I might survive this."

Read Kevin Cogill's version of what happened when he posted the GUNS N' ROSES tracks back in June at this location.

Kevin Cogill spoke to Sky News's Martin Stanford in June 2008 for a three-and-a-half-minute report which can be viewed below.

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