As reported by Associated Press, Levon Helm, former drummer for Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame members the Band, has filed suit in New York Superior Court over the use of the band’s song “The Weight” in a Cingular Wireless commercial called “Road Trip” [video here]. NY state law prohibits the use of a celebrity’s voice or likeness for profit without their prior written permission. The article doesn’t state how much Helm is asking from BBDO Worldwide, the ad agency that created the television commercial.

According to an annual royalty statement from Capitol EMI Records, the Band's record label, Helm took home one-fifth of half of the licensing fee that BBDO paid to Capitol for the right to use the song, but his lawyer states that Helm doesn’t feel that he has been properly compensated for use of his vocals from “The Weight” for the thirty-second commercial.

“It was just a complete, damn sellout of the Band – its reputation, its music; just as much disrespect as you could pour on Richard and Rick's tombstones,” said Helm, a longtime Woodstock NY resident. Richard Manuel, vocalist and piano player for the Band, died in 1986; bassist Rick Danko died in 1999. The Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Now I don’t begrudge Helm a penny in his quest, as singer of “The Weight,” to earn a little cash from the classic song, but he did receive one-fifth of the band’s share on the song. Doesn’t Robbie Robertson, the songwriter, deserve a few more coins as well? Why is it that the record label gets 50% of the licensing fee from the ad agency, considering that the song and the album that it’s from – Music From The Big Pink – was originally released 38 years ago? Why doesn’t the Band own its masters on this album and thus the right to license or not license songs as their conscience allow? We report, you decide....