The property of Johnny Money has sued Coca-Cola, accusing the beverage big of utilizing an impersonator who mimicked the late singer’s voice in a nationwide promoting marketing campaign with out permission.
The grievance, filed in US District Court docket in Nashville, alleges Coca-Cola employed a tribute singer to document vocals for a school football-themed industrial that began airing in August 2025.
The John R. Money Revocable Belief, which controls the singer’s publicity rights, is searching for damages and an injunction to cease Coca-Cola from “exploiting the infringing advert.”
The belief alleges within the lawsuit (learn right here) that Coca-Cola commissioned the Go the Distance industrial as a part of its Fan Work Is Thirsty Work marketing campaign for the NCAA soccer season.
The advert options followers ingesting Coca-Cola merchandise in school video games and contains imagery from associate faculties, together with the College of Michigan, the College of Notre Dame, the College of Southern California, Louisiana State College and The Ohio State College.
The belief claims Coca-Cola’s advert company employed a Johnny Money tribute performer to make sure the vocal observe “sounded as shut as attainable to the artist’s voice.
The lawsuit mentioned the singer advertises himself as “The No. 1 Johnny Money Tribute Present” and “The Man in Black — A Tribute to Johnny Money.”
“The singing voice within the Infringing Advert is quickly identifiable and attributable to Johnny Money.”
The John R. Money Revocable Belief’s lawsuit
The belief’s legal professionals wrote: “On info and perception, the Sound-Alike Singer’s solely leisure expertise as a singer is to impersonate Johnny Money.”
The lawsuit added: “The singing voice within the Infringing Advert is quickly identifiable and attributable to Johnny Money,” and that some customers “have truly been confused by Infringing Advert.”
Money, who died in 2003, offered greater than 90 million data worldwide and was inducted into the Nation Music, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Music halls of fame. His property has licensed his voice for industrial use, together with Tremendous Bowl adverts, and operates the Johnny Money Museum in Nashville.
The lawsuit invokes Tennessee’s ELVIS Act, enacted in March 2024, which protects likeness, voice and picture rights. The regulation defines voice as “a sound in a medium that’s readily identifiable and attributable to a specific particular person, no matter whether or not the sound accommodates the precise voice or a simulation.”
The statute permits estates of deceased people to pursue civil motion in opposition to unauthorized industrial use.
Coca-Cola, which reported income exceeding $47 billion in 2024 and has a market capitalization above $300 billion, has a historical past of movie star endorsements, in line with the lawsuit.
“Coca-Cola is aware of that it wants a license to take advantage of, for industrial promoting functions, the title, picture, likeness, and voice of artists and musicians. Coca-Cola has entered into such licenses previously.”
The John R. Money Revocable Belief’s lawsuit
The lawsuit mentioned: “Coca-Cola touts such endorsements on its web site as a part of its ‘DNA.’ Coca-Cola emphasizes that its first movie star endorsements have been with singers”
The belief’s grievance famous that Coca-Cola has beforehand entered endorsement offers with artists together with Taylor Swift to make use of their voices in adverts.
“Coca-Cola is aware of that it wants a license to take advantage of, for industrial promoting functions, the title, picture, likeness, and voice of artists and musicians. Coca-Cola has entered into such licenses previously.”
The lawsuit added: “Regardless of capitalizing on the intrinsic worth of Johnny Money’s legendary Voice, CocaCola by no means even bothered to ask the Belief for a license.”
The lawsuit marks the newest case in opposition to a model over its industrial. In August, Sony Music Leisure sued US shoe retailer Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) over what SME claims to be “rampant infringement” of its sound recordings in social media adverts.
Warner Music Group additionally sued DSW in Could, claiming that DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse and mum or dad Designer Manufacturers Inc “misappropriated over 2 hundred” of WMG’s recordings and compositions in TikTok and Instagram posts.
In October final yr, Common Music Group sued the proprietor of US Tex-Mex restaurant chain Chili’s in October for allegedly infringing its copyrights in quite a few social media posts.
That very same month, Sony Music settled a lawsuit in opposition to Marriott Motels over the alleged “rampant” infringement of copyrighted supplies in social media posts.
In March, Sony Music sued the College of Southern California, alleging the college repeatedly and willfully used unauthorized copyrighted music in its social media posts.
Different complaints have been filed in opposition to corporations together with a lawsuit in opposition to Cookie big Crumbl (sued by WMG), a lawsuit between the Related Manufacturing Music — collectively owned by Sony Music Publishing and Common Music Publishing Group — and the American Hockey League; the case between Sony Music and US cosmetics model OFRA; and the lawsuit filed by Kobalt Music Publishing, Artist Publishing Group and others in opposition to 14 NBA groups.
Music Enterprise Worldwide
