"Chinese Democracy" Leaker Pleads Not Guilty to Piracy

The blogger investigated by the FBI and ultimately arrested in August for leaking nine songs from Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy pleaded not guilty in his first court appearance yesterday. Kevin "Skwerl" Cogill is charged with violating federal copyright law. If convicted, Cogill faces three years in prison, and five years if its determined Cogill posted the songs for commercial gain. Reps for GNR insist their main intention is to find the "original source" of the leaks. "If legal proceedings come my way, I'll face them 100 percent," Cogill told Rock Daily back in June when the leaks first surfaced. "I'm not afraid of that. I did what I did, and I'll face the music if I have to." Since his arrest, Cogill has set up a PayPal account to raise funds for his legal fees. No trial date has been set yet.

Related Stories:
• Chinese Democracy Leaker Gets FBI Visit
•Chinese Democracy Leaker Arrested on Suspicion of Violating Federal Copyright Law
• Did Guns N' Roses Leaker Know He Broke the Law? Kevin Cogill Asks for Financial Aid

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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