Cingular drop ball while raising bar

Levon Helm, drummer with The Band, has legalised his hump with New York ad agency BBDO after they slapped The Weight onto a cingular ad:

"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, 66, a longtime Woodstock resident.

Oddly, though, in the same Associated Press report:

Helm's attorney, Michael Pinsky, said state law prohibits the use of a celebrity's voice or likeness for profit without his prior written permission.

Pinsky said Helm received a royalty payment from the use of "The Weight" in the commercial, but doesn't feel he has been adequately compensated.

It's not clear, exactly, how adequately Helm would have had to have been compensated before he could live with the pouring of as much disrespect as possible on Manuel and Danko's tombs.