A man who leaked several tracks from Guns N Roses new album ‘Chinese Democracy’ has pleaded guilty and apologised for his actions.
It was the comeback to end all comebacks. After fifteen years of waiting, Guns N Roses fans finally had their patience rewarded with the band announcing an album of new material – their first since ‘Use Your Illusion’ back in 1991.
Since then, Guns N Roses had released one poorly received covers album before splintering. Guitarist Slash was amongst the first to depart, as rumours of singer Axl Rose becoming power hungry circulated.
The band went on hiatus, with fans speculating that millions were being spent on new material. Musicians came and went, with Guns N Roses scrapping almost an album’s worth of songs recorded with metal icon Buckethead.
Finally, after a decade in the wilderness Guns N Roses confirmed details of their new album. The world rejoiced and Dr Pepper offered a free can to every living American citizen – barring Slash and Buckethead.
However the band’s carefully laid plans for a comeback were thrown into disarray when tracks began leaking onto the internet. Anti-piracy teams swooped on a property in Los Angeles, arresting a blogger who had uploaded tracks to his page.
Kevin Cogill suddenly became one of the most recognisable figures in the ‘Chinese Democracy’ story. The blogger made a court appearance yesterday (July 14th) and pleaded guilty to breaching copyright regulations.
Apologising to the band, Cogill was sentenced to two months of home confinement and told that he must allow government officials to search his computer. US District Magistrate Judge Paul L Abrams also sentenced the blogger to one year of probation.
During the hearing, Cogill apologised to the band and explained that he was a fan. “I never intended to hurt the artist,” Cogill said. “I intended to promote the artist because I’m a fan.”
Prosecutors in the case had intended to seek jail time and large fines for the blogger, however the judge over-ruled this stating that Cogill would not repeat his mistake.
