Legendary thrash veterans Metallica have issued a warning to their fans that any announcements made in their behalf by Front Row Networks, Inc. or its parent company Writers Group Film Corp. are not to be trusted.  Writers Group issued a statement Tuesday that it had acquired "several hours od unique Metallica 3D and 2D concert footage for distribution," which the band says is not authorized.

"Metallica owns and controls its recorded performances and Creeping Death Music owns the vast majority of any music embodied in Metallica recordings," said the band's attorney Peter Paterno. "Pretty much any legitimate business would have contacted us to see how Metallica felt about it. Maybe these guys just forgot."

"We are very happy to have bolstered the Writers Group Film Corp. stock price by using the Metallica name," said Marc Reiter, a member of the band's management team. "We only wish they would have told us sooner so we could have bought some."

Metallica is scheduled to enter the studio in the coming weeks to begin an as-yet-unrevealed project which guitarist Kirk Hammet has said is "more a recording project than a bona fide Metallica album."  The band has also signed on for four more "Big Four" shows with fellow Bay Area thrash legends Slayer, Megadeath, and Anthrax, the first of which is scheduled for April 23rd in Indio, California.