The estate of the legendary Johnny Cash has filed a federal lawsuit in Nashville against Coca-Cola, accusing the them of illegally using a tribute singer named Shawn Barker, to mimic Johnny’s voice in a college football ad without permission or licensing.
This case will be the first high-profile legal action under Tennessee’s new ELVIS Act, which protects individuals’ voices from unauthorized commercial exploitation. The Cash estate says that Coca-Cola profited from this voice imitation without consent, seeking an injunction to remove the ad and financial damages for violations of publicity rights, consumer protection laws, and false endorsement statutes.
“Stealing the voice of an artist is theft. It is theft of his integrity, identity and humanity. The trust brings this lawsuit to protect the voice of Johnny Cash and to send a message that protects the voice of all of the artists whose music enriches our lives.” – Tim Warnock, a lawyer for Cash’s estate.
We’ll have to see how this all shakes out. It will be interesting to see how this case is handled as well as future cases like it.