A 27-year-old man from Culver City, Los Angeles, was arrested Wednesday by federal police on suspicion of violating federal copyright law after posting online nine previously unreleased songs from 1990s rock icon Guns N’ Roses.

Kevin Cogill, 27, seems to have taken his admiration for Guns N’ Roses one step too far by posting nine previously unreleased tracks on a website, inviting fellow Guns N’ Roses fans and anyone else interested to listen to the rare audio gift.

The nine tracks appear on the band’s upcoming new album, “Chinese Democracy,” and mysteriously made their way into Cogill’s hands.

Ever the generous blogger, Cogill put them online on www.antiquiet.com in June. His move was a success, from one point of view, as the site soon crashed.

According to court papers, Cogill eventually removed the tracks from the site, when the band intervened. Larry Solters, a spokesman for Guns N’ Roses, said the band “had been made aware of the arrest and are leaving the matter to the authorities.”

Cogill appeared in court on Wednesday and was released on $10,000 bail. He faces a maximum of three years in prison if convicted, and five years if he is found to have had a financial gain from his action.

Cogill is due to appear in court again on 17 September. Prosecutors said the leak could lead to “significant” financial loss for Guns N’ Roses.

The arrest was welcomed by the Recording Industry Association of America, the main trade group fighting the proliferation of music online.

"The arrest of Kevin Cogill is great for the recording industry related to our online investigations. We are very pleased with the FBI's interest and the US attorney's office's aggressiveness in pursuing this investigation," said Kathy Leodler, the RIAA's director of investigations. "We think we'll see more and more of these pre- release cases."

The rock band gained momentum in 1987 with the release of “Appetite for Destruction” and was greatly successful in the following years. Its last album to be released is 1993’s “The Spaghetti Incident?”.

Guns N’ Roses have been working on “Chinese Democracy,” which has no official release date yet, for a decade.

A new song from “Chinese Democracy,” titled “Shackler’s Revenge,” will be available for legal listening starting with September, when Harmonix and MTV Games release Rock Band 2.