Johnny Cash’s estate sues Coca-Cola for using tribute law in advertising | Johnny Cash

The estate of Johnny Cash has sued Coca-Cola for illegally hiring an impersonation of the late American singer in an advertisement running between college football games.

The case was brought under Tennessee’s Elvis Law, which took effect last year, and which protects a person’s voice from being exploited without their consent. The company said that although it had previously licensed Cash’s songs, Coca-Cola had not reached out to them for permission in this case.

“Stealing an artist’s voice is theft. It’s theft of their integrity, their identity and their humanity,” said Tim Warnock, the Cash family’s attorney. “The Trust is filing this lawsuit to protect the voice of Johnny Cash — and to send a message that protects the voice of all artists whose music enriches our lives.”

The singer in the ad is named Sean Parker, who works as a professional Cash impersonator.

The property is seeking an injunction to remove the ad from the air, damages under the Elvis Act, as well as damages for alleged violations of consumer protections in Tennessee.

“This case arose from Coca-Cola pirating Johnny Cash’s voice in a nationwide advertising campaign to enrich itself — without asking permission or providing any compensation to the humble man and artist who created the goodwill from which Coca-Cola now benefits,” the complaint reads.

Coca-Cola has not yet commented on this matter. A representative for Parker told Billboard that his team was “thrilled when we asked Sean to sing vocals for this commercial.”

“Sean Parker has been performing with his critical tribute The Man in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash for more than two decades, touring the world to share his love of Johnny Cash’s music and stories with fans old and new,” said his manager Joey Waterman.

Last year, Cash Estate released Songwriter, a collection of previously abandoned songs the country music star composed when he was down on his luck in the ’90s — before a collaboration with Rick Rubin restored his legend in his later years. Cash died in 2003.