Tom Waits wins a landmark case against Volkswagen-Audi after the car firm in its ads used one of Tom Waits’ clones to perform a number from Innocent When You Dream without the original singer’s permission. Tom Waits sought action in a Spanish court against violation of intellectual property rights by Volkswagen-Audi and Tandem Campmany Guasch, a commercial television production and advertising agency. The ruling is a true revolution some feel, for this is the first time in Spanish history that this kind of judgment has come out on favor of a performing artist. The ruling effectively distinguished Waits’ voice as his creative and original composition and further rules Car Company and its advertising/production agency infringed on Waits’ copyrights by mimicking his sound.
Excited with the result the singer is prepared with another infringement case. This time its Opel and a German advertising agency that have allegedly lifted some sound and tunes from the Singer’s own performance for a series of European TV commercials.
