Oasis Wins Battle With British Army Over Unauthorized Use Of Songs

LONDON, UK (London Times) - The British Army has learned one does not mess with Oasis, or the band's lawyers. Oasis music used in a recruitment video for the Highlanders regiment will now be removed.

Shot during a recent exercise by the 600-person Edinburgh-based outfit in Kenya, the promotional video featured the Oasis songs "Wonderwall" and "Hello" as background music. The tracks from Oasis's 1995 album, (What's The Story) Morning Glory, were played as the soldiers in desert fatigues scrambled about, carrying rifles.

The army video was shown in shopping malls and schools. Songwriter Noel Gallagher was not pleased and had not given his OK for the use of his songs. Oasis's attorneys ordered that the songs be removed or legal action would be taken. Approximately 300 copies of the video have been recalled.

A U.K. Ministry Of Defense spokesman to the BBC said, "We didn't realize we needed permission to use the songs until it was brought to our attention."

Oasis returns July 2 with the group's fifth studio album, Heathen Chemistry. Noel Gallagher has called the new release the band's "best" since Morning Glory, which debuted at Number One on U.K. charts and became the second-best selling album in British history.

"I love this record," Noel Gallagher said in a statement. "But I would say that wouldn't I? We've moved on a wee bit, but to re-invent ourselves completely, we'd have to be contrived and we're not capable of that."