Guns N' Roses' manager has fired back at allegations the band illegally borrowed music from an German electronic pop artist. Axl Rose's band and Universal Music Group executives have been sued by bosses at two indie record labels, who have accused them of copying portions of songs by Ulrich Schnauss.

Record companies Independiente and Domino claim "Riad N' The Bedouins", a track on Guns N' Roses' 2008 album Chinese Democracy, features illegal samples of Schnauss' "Wherever You Are" and "A Strangely Isolated Place".

But music mogul Irving Azoff insists the band didn't knowingly use any samples.

A statement from the manager reads, "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."

Image © Paulo Amorim / Photorazzi

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)