Guns N' Roses have denied they illegally sampling two songs by German electronic artist Ulrich Schnauss.

In a lawsuit filed last Friday, two record labels alleged the band had used the tracks in the intro to 'Riad N' The Bedouins', which featured on their 2008 album 'Chinese Democracy'.

However, in a statement to Rolling Stone, Guns N' Roses manager Irving Azoff said the group "vigorously contested" the claims.

"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," he said.

"The band believed when the record came out and still believes that there are no unauthorised samples on the track.”

Azoff added that the group were “confident this situation will be satisfactorily resolved”.

'Chinese Democracy' was finally released last November - fifteen years after its predecessor 'The Spaghetti Incident?'.

(by Jason Gregory)