Quote from OFFICIAL EELS SITE:

8/20/2001
E SONG USED IN TV COMMERCIAL WITHOUT PERMISSION: It's true. Read all about it in Sunday's Los Angeles Times or right here.

CASHING OUT: From the music of Moby to the Who to the late Nick Drake, advertising has become a terrific stream of revenue for pop songs. Who wouldn't want to cash in? Mark Everett, for one. The leader of the Eels, who generally goes by the name E, has steadfastly refused what he says are weekly requests to use his songs in commercials. So he was surprised on a recent trip to Spain to learn that one of his songs, "I Like Birds," was the soundtrack to a TV ad for a shopping center--and even more surprised to find that it had been authorized, without his knowledge, by his music publisher.

"The song was recorded by someone else, but it even used a sample of our record," he says. "It uses part of the song with the phrase 'I can't stand waiting in line at stores' and showed the mall with no lines." Everett quickly had a restraining order sent to stop further airing of the ad and is now considering legal action against Rondor Publishing, which oversees his songs.

"Neither Rondor nor [parent company] Universal approved any licenses for this commercial and we have instructed that it be pulled from the air immediately," says Lance Freed, president of Rondor Music. "Unfortunately, there was miscommunication with Rondor's unaffiliated Spanish sub-publisher who sent the request. We certainly respect the wishes of Mark Everett and have moved quickly to rectify the situation."

"I understand (licensing a song) if you can't pay your rent--I'd rather sing about Taco Bell than work there," Everett says. "And Volkswagen actually made an ad with my song 'Beautiful Freak' and sent it to me. It was really good. But I just don't want that."

Having his music in movies, though, is another thing.
A few of his songs were used in "The Anniversary Party," for which he also served as a soundtrack consultant at the request of co-star, co-director and co-writer Jennifer Jason Leigh. And he's now writing music for a movie by director Wim Wenders, in which he will also act, with filming planned for next summer.