According to Rolling Stone, the group will have to face court on charges of plagiarism. Axl Rose and his cronies have been accused of stealing parts of two songs written by German songwriter Ulrich Schnauss. The song Riad n’ the Bedouins, a song from their Chinese Democracy album, allegedly strikes a resemblance to Schnauss’s compositions.
The lawsuit was filed by two independent labels, Independiente and Domino, who are asking for 1 million dollars in damages and interest. They claim that a 45-second portion of Riad n’ the Bedouins was copied from the Schnauss-penned songs, Wherever You Are and A Strangely Isolated Place.
The Ulrich Schnauss pieces date back to 2001 and 2003, respectively, while Chinese Democracy took 14 years in the making. Guns N’ Roses must prove that their song was written before Schnauss wrote his.
These allegations are similar to those guitarist Joe Satriani pressed against Coldplay recently, regarding a song off their Viva La Vida album. The California court dismissed Satriani’s case.