Revolver Stars Sue Axl Over Guns N' Roses Cash

VELVET REVOLVER stars Slash and Duff Mckagan have reignited their legal feud with former GUNS N' ROSES bandmate Axl Rose in a spat over publishing royalties.

The duo claim Rose sold the rights to songs they wrote together without their consent - and continues to reap the profits.

They've filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles, accusing the rocker of changing the publisher of the group's copyrighted songs without their consent and pocketing the royalties.

In legal papers, Slash and McKagan claim they were unaware of the publishing problems until royalty payments they expected earlier this year (05) failed to arrive.

McKagan's lawyer GLEN MISKEL (corr) tells MTV NEWS, "When the ASCAP cheque didn't come, we called and they looked into it. We didn't know all the facts at first."

Miskel says that earlier this month (AUG05) did they discover that Rose had notified ASCAP in late May (05) that he was switching over the publishing from Guns N' Roses to Black Frog Music Publishing, which he owns.

The lawsuit reads, "Rose's actions were malicious, fraudulent and oppressive, and undertaken in conscious disregard of property rights."

Slash and McKagan are seeking damages for fraud, copyright infringement and breach of fiduciary duty.