Council of Elrond

Hey!
I have the following situation:
- I have Saw Further and Deeper in play
- I constantly have Elf-song in play
- I have Elrond and 2 8-mind characters in play, all sitting at a heaven, thus being protected from be taken back to hand

Question:
What is my free General Influence? 0 or 7?
In other words: do characters I cant control still count towards general influence?

Thanks for your help (I know you will help...)

0, you use as much GI as you can use, but can't go negative.