Johnny Cash's estate is going after Coca-Cola for allegedly using a tribute singer to fake the country legend's voice in their college football ads without asking permission. The beverage company hired someone who markets himself as a Cash impersonator to record vocals that would sound as close as possible to the real thing for their campaign, which started running in August.
The trust controlling Cash's rights filed suit in Nashville, claiming Coke knows better since they regularly license celebrity voices for commercials and have cut deals with artists like Taylor Swift before. They are citing Tennessee's ELVIS Act that protects voice and likeness rights even after death, and want damages plus an injunction to kill the ad. Some viewers actually got confused, thinking it was the genuine Man in Black singing about drinking soda at football games.
The trust controlling Cash's rights filed suit in Nashville, claiming Coke knows better since they regularly license celebrity voices for commercials and have cut deals with artists like Taylor Swift before. They are citing Tennessee's ELVIS Act that protects voice and likeness rights even after death, and want damages plus an injunction to kill the ad. Some viewers actually got confused, thinking it was the genuine Man in Black singing about drinking soda at football games.
