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Axl Rose Takes Activision to Court over Guitar Hero

by Jeanine Celestin, posted on 15 March 2011 / 897 Views

Axl Rose finally decided to get mad about an alleged broken agreement with Activision, as he had his lawsuit against the company approved in a Los Angeles courtroom. Axl's case claims Activision purportedly broke an agreement to let Guns N' Roses tracks be used on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The agreement supposedly was that the game would not feature Slash or Velvet Revolver as Axl owns the rights to the bands’ name and all songs written by the band.

If true, Activision went against this agreement by including Slash on the cover of the game and as a playable character, as well as in multiple promotional advertisements. Velvet Revolver tracks were also offered as downloadable songs.

Axl also pretty effectively shattered any hope fans have had that Guns N' Roses may be considering a reunion of the original band line-up when he confirmed he has no wishes for "his band" to associate with Slash.

“Simply put, the association between Slash and Guns N' Roses ended almost 15 years ago. Rose resists any attempts to revive or strengthen this past association," the legal complaint says.

One may wonder, how - if Slash and Axl are still on bad terms and "the association between" them ended 15 years ago - can Axl have power to say whether or not Guitar Hero III could feature Slash? This is a question the court will have to try and answer at the trial scheduled for January 23, 2012.


9 Comments

Alby_da_Wolf
Alby_da_Wolf (on 15 March 2011)

Oh my, what did Slash to make Axl so mad? Assrape his mom?

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Xelestial
Xelestial (on 15 March 2011)

@cory.ok- It doesn't make sense that he would have the power to make such an agreement as he is not associated with Guns N Roses any longer. The agreement sounds fishy to me and I was stating that belief.

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GracefulAssassin
GracefulAssassin (on 15 March 2011)

*Facepalm.*

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Xelestial
Xelestial (on 15 March 2011)

@L.C.E.C- Yes it's an old lawsuit but it just got approved. That's news/the legal system for ya =/

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DareDareCaro
DareDareCaro (on 15 March 2011)

Wow! Axl owns Slash...

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Bman54
Bman54 (on 15 March 2011)

That's kind of mean to Slash. Does he have no say if he just want to be in the game as a character?

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L.C.E.C.
L.C.E.C. (on 15 March 2011)

This is an old ass lawsuit. I read up on it the Spring after GHIII came out... Legal shit just takes time. Personally, I don't remember reading anything about slash not playing the songs back then, but just that Axl was a giant asshole (no big surprise there) and just didn't want him performing under the GNR name... even though that IS him on the recording of "Welcome to the Jungle". Bottom line, I'm not sure who is the bigger asshole... Axl Rose or Activision. Honestly I want them both to lose, but I know that's not exactly possible :/

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Dr.Grass
Dr.Grass (on 15 March 2011)

I hope they take Activision to the cleaners.

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cory.ok
cory.ok (on 15 March 2011)

"The agreement supposedly was that the game would not feature Slash or Velvet Revolver" then a few lines down a little commentary... "One may wonder, how - if Slash and Axl are still on bad terms and "the association between" them ended 15 years ago - can Axl have power to say whether or not Guitar Hero III could feature Slash?" am i missing something or did you just not read what you wrote? the agreement was that they could put the song in the game as long as slash wasnt in the game, thats how axl hopes to control whether or not slash is in the game

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