Image: Johnny Cash in a 1979 publicity photo for the CBS Television program The Johnny Cash Spring Special. Image credit: CBS Television.
By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
The estate of legendary singer Johnny Cash is suing top global brand Coca-Cola under a law named for another legendary singer, Elvis Presley.
The Cash estate brought the suit under Tennessee’s newly passed Elvis Act, alleging Coca-Cola violated the singer’s copyright by using a duplicate of his voice in a recent marketing campaign.
The complaint filed Tuesday in Nashville is the first major case to be tried under Tennessee’s ‘Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security’ Act (ELVIS) Act.
Passed by the state legislature in 2024, the act expands the state’s statutory right of publicity to protect a person’s voice from being exploited.
The manager of Cash’s estate, the John R. Cash Revocable Trust, said the complaint centre on a song in a commercial that began airing in August, 2024 during college football games.
The estate claims the voice sounds “remarkably” like the late singer. They do not allege generative AI was used to mimic Cash’s voice, but rather believe it is the voice of a professional Johnny Cash tribute performer named Shawn Barker.
That is a potentially important point, as the ELVIS Act was intended to protect artists against artificial intelligence deepfakes and voice clones. The Cash estate’s complaint against Coca-Cola does not allege artificial intelligence was used in the commercial, but the estate’s complaint says the legislation covers any instance of someone’s voice being used or mimicked without permission, whether or not AI is involved.
“Stealing the voice of an artist is theft,” the filing alleges. “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.”
The music and likeness of Johnny Cash have been licensed for various purposes, including ads during football games. His songs “Ragged Old Flag” and “Personal Jesus” were played in Super Bowl ads.
However, in this case the estate complains that Coca-Cola aired the ad without requesting a license from the estate.
“This case arises from Coca-Cola’s pirating Johnny Cash’s voice in a nationwide advertising campaign to enrich itself — without asking for permission or providing any compensation to the humble man and artist who created the goodwill from which Coca-Cola now profits,” the complaint alleges.
The estate is seeking a court injunction to prevent the ad from airing on television, as well as damages for copyright infringement.
Coca-Cola has not yet responded to press inquiries about the suit.
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