Coca-Cola gets sued by Johnny Cash’s estate for using unauthorized fake of his voice
Coca-Cola hired a fake Johnny Cash singer, an impersonator, to mimic the famous singer’s voice in a commercial, and now is getting sued for that.
Newsweek reports the Johnny Cash estate has gone to federal court over the drink company’s use of “an unauthorized imitation” of the late singer’s voice.
The complaint in federal court for the Middle District of Tennessee charges Coca-Cola is in violation of the state’s Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security (ELVIS) Act, as well as federal false-endorsement laws and state consumer-protection statutes, the report confirmed.
Newsweek noted, “The lawsuit matters because it tests the boundaries of Tennessee’s new ELVIS Act—one of the first laws in the nation to explicitly protect both real and simulated voices—and could reshape how advertisers, technology companies, and entertainment estates handle voice rights.”
The case charges the corporation with using a Cash soundalike without permission or authorization and could set a new precedent for industry practices using vocal imitators and the ownership in a fast-changing world of artificial intelligence.
The late Cash was described in the report as “one of America’s most loved and severed singer-songwriters, whose deep bass-baritone voice and blend of country, rock, folk, and gospel made him one of the most influential and bestselling artists of the 20th Century.”
His interests now are protected by the John R. Cash Revocable Trust.
It was the corporation’s “Go the Distance” commercial that triggered the fight.
The filing charges Coca-Cola hired Shawn Barker, a “Johnny Cash tribute singer,” to imitate the famed singer’s voice.
The company then created a performance that allegedly was “readily identifiable and attributable” to Cash even though the estate granted no permissions.
“Stealing the voice of an artist is theft. It is theft of his integrity, identity, and humanity,” Cash estate lawyer Tim Warnock explained.
The filing included comments from consumers explaining they thought the ad featured an “unreleased Johnny Cash recording.”
The report explained the significance:
“According to an analysis by Latham & Watkins, the law broadens protections by explicitly covering ‘a sound in a medium that is readily identifiable and attributable to a particular individual, regardless of whether the sound contains the actual voice or a simulation.’ It also introduces new forms of liability for those who ‘publish, perform, distribute, [or] transmit’ an unauthorized voice, including simulations.”
The case seeks $75,000 damages and an order halting the further use of the imitation.
24-year-old Johnny Cash performing “I Walk The Line” in 1956. The rest is history. pic.twitter.com/JF4XoVF7Pe
— Rock History (@historyrock_) November 17, 2025
71 year old Johnny Cash in his last performance (July 5, 2003)
He passed away 2 months later. pic.twitter.com/ejQbwPYiit
— Rock History (@historyrock_) November 26, 2025
The estate of Johnny Cash is suing Coca-Cola for replicating Cash’s voice in a new ad campaign without the estate’s permission.
Estate alleges that Coca-Cola signed an endorsement deal with Taylor Swift, so it knows that it needs a license to exploit musician personas in ads. pic.twitter.com/mhnIdyI7T5
— Rob Freund (@RobertFreundLaw) November 26, 2025