Because they're lying. Either they're lying or Maynard's a great actor. There's a slew of clips and interview questions with Maynard answering in an annoyed fashion concerning the slowness of the writing process. If it was due litigation, I think they would have mentioned it a long time ago.

There's no reason to hide that. Maybe they wouldn't want to go into specifics but they could certainly answer answer album release date estimate questions with: "Legal issues stalling the process. Who knows."

The fact that they're being so forthcoming "because it's about time the fans know the truth blah blah blah" screams bullshit to me.