Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose's $20 million lawsuit against Guitar Hero publisher Activision has been dismissed from a Los Angeles court, according to the San Marino Tribute.
The rock legend sued the company back in 2010, claiming that they broke a promise not to use ex-bandmate Slash's likeness in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, along with any of the guitarist's songs with his new band Velvet Revolver in the game. In exchange, Rose allowed the game to use his song "Welcome to the Jungle."
Rose has had a tumultuous relationship with many of his former bandmates, including Slash who he has been feuding with for years, and did not want him to be associated with the band. Activision, who released the game back in 2007, had unlawfully used Slash's likeness despite, and had gone ahead with the plan without Rose's consent.
The judge threw out the case on Thursday after a hearing back on Jan. 31 which discussed breach of contract.
Although you may be wondering why Rose waited so long between 2007 and 2010 to bring Activision to court. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Rose stated that Activision had made promises concerning other Guns N' Roses projects.
"From December 2007 through November 2010, Activision was offering me a Guns N' Roses dedicated video game, a game dedicated to music from the 'Chinese Democracy' album, and other proposals," the frontman said.
This is not the first time that the publisher has come under fire for their celebrity likenesses. Courtney Love had promised to sue the company back in 2009 for the "vile" use of late husband Kurt Cobain's likeness in Guitar Hero 5 . Most recently back in 2011, Adam Levine of Maroon 5 sued Activision for the use of his appearance in Band Hero despite promises that it would only be used for his songs.
Regardless of whether or not Activision broke contractual agreements in the past, considering that the Guitar Hero franchise is pretty much dead, we can guess who got the last laugh.
