Tom Waits

Tom Waits (born Thomas Alan Waits on December 7, 1949 in Pomona, California) is an American singer-songwriter, composer and actor.

Lawsuits

Waits has steadfastly refused to allow the use of his songs in commercials and has outwardly spoken ill of other artists who do. ("If Michael Jackson wants to work for Pepsi, why doesn't he just get himself a suit and an office in their headquarters and be done with it.") He has filed several lawsuits against advertisers who used his material without permission.

Related Topics:
Commercials - Michael Jackson - Pepsi - Lawsuit

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The first lawsuit was filed in 1988 against Frito Lay, and resulted in a US$2.6 million judgement in Waits' favor. Frito Lay had approached Waits to use one of his songs in an advertisement. Waits declined the offer, and Frito Lay hired a Waits soundalike to sing a jingle similar to Small Changes "Step Right Up," which is, ironically, a song Waits has called "an indictment of advertising." http://www.joe.trussell.com/waits/frito_lay.html ("Step Right Up" concludes with the lyric "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away").

Related Topics:
1988 - Frito Lay - US$ - Jingle - Ironically - Advertising

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In 1993, Levi's used Screamin' Jay Hawkins's version of Waits's "Heartattack and Vine" in a commercial. Waits sued, and Levi's agreed to cease all use of the song, and offered a full page apology in Billboard Magazine. http://www.keeslau.com/TomWaitsSupplement/Copyright/copyrightwaitslevis.htm

Related Topics:
1993 - Levi's - Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Billboard Magazine

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In 2000, Waits found himself in a situation similar to his earlier one with Frito-Lay: Audi approached him, asking to use "Innocent When You Dream" (from Frank's Wild Years) for a commercial broadcast in Spain. Waits declined, but the commercial ultimately featured music very similar to Waits' song. Waits undertook legal action, and a Spanish court recognized there had been a violation of Waits' moral rights, in addition to the infringement of copyright http://www.anti.com/news.php?newsid=86715. The production company, Tandem Campany Guasch, was ordered to pay compensation to Waits through his Spanish publisher.

Related Topics:
2000 - Audi - Spain - Copyright - Tandem Campany Guasch

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In 2005, Waits sued Adam Opel AG, claiming that, after having failed to sign him to sing in their Scandinavian commercials, they had hired a sound-alike singer.

Related Topics:
2005 - Adam Opel AG - Scandinavia

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