Johnny Cash vs. Coke | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: This is really interesting to me. This is from one

0:02 Speaker 1: of my favorite websites for music industry news, music businessworldwide

0:05 Speaker 1: dot com. Coca Cola denies Johnny Cash a sound alike claim,

0:11 Speaker 1: disputes infringement in a state lawsuit. Now, this is something

0:15 Speaker 1: that we talk about a lot on the show. Of

0:17 Speaker 1: course AI, you know you can create AI deep fake

0:22 Speaker 1: voices and images and videos and all of that, and

0:26 Speaker 1: of course anything having to do with intellectual property, copyright, trademark,

0:30 Speaker 1: all of that has always been very interesting to me.

0:32 Speaker 1: And one of the things that comes up to a

0:33 Speaker 1: lot on the show is in terms of a person's image, likeness, voice,

0:40 Speaker 1: if they have a very distinctive voice, with which Johnny

0:43 Speaker 1: Cash certainly does. What are the legal ramifications of trying

0:48 Speaker 1: to pass something off as being legitimate when it's not.

0:53 Speaker 2: Was it last week? It was either last week or

0:54 Speaker 2: the week before.

0:55 Speaker 1: We talked about this thing going on on TikTok with

0:58 Speaker 1: these deep fake scams where people are actually using a

1:02 Speaker 1: likeness of Taylor Swift to create content that is not her,

1:09 Speaker 1: but it looks like her, it sounds like her, But

1:12 Speaker 1: you know, she's doing stuff that you would not expect

1:16 Speaker 1: of a celebrity of the level of Taylor Swift because

1:20 Speaker 1: she's selling memberships on TikTok to some stupid thing that's

1:26 Speaker 1: actually just a scam anyway, and you put in your

1:28 Speaker 1: information and it steals your money out of your bank account,

1:31 Speaker 1: and that's the whole point of the scam, right obviously,

1:34 Speaker 1: Taylor Swift, I mean, well, first of all, she wouldn't

1:37 Speaker 1: be in a scam to take your money because she

1:39 Speaker 1: already has all the money in the world. But also,

1:43 Speaker 1: why would Taylor Swift be involved in something like that

1:46 Speaker 1: selling memberships on TikTok. Or Kim Kardashian is another celebrity

1:51 Speaker 1: who's recently been deep faked, if I may use that

1:55 Speaker 1: as a verb on TikTok, And what I say is,

2:00 Speaker 1: when you see something like that and it makes you think,

2:02 Speaker 1: why is a celebrity, the stature of this particular person

2:07 Speaker 1: lowering themselves to do this really scammy, low rent sort

2:12 Speaker 1: of thing on social media that doesn't make any sense

2:15 Speaker 1: to me. If you see that and it doesn't make

2:17 Speaker 1: any sense to you, it's because it doesn't make any sense.

2:19 Speaker 2: It's not really them. It's a deep fake.

2:22 Speaker 1: So these as we continue into the AI era, if

2:26 Speaker 1: I may this is going to become more and more

2:29 Speaker 1: of a problem. And these questions about intellectual property and

2:35 Speaker 1: likenesses and trademarks and infringement, all of these illegal buzzwords

2:40 Speaker 1: that you hear, We're going to be hearing more and

2:41 Speaker 1: more of. So I'm fascinated by this. Now, this is

2:44 Speaker 1: something I did not reread this, I just found this.

2:49 Speaker 1: But this is along the lines of something that we

2:51 Speaker 1: talk about a lot on the show. So again, this

2:55 Speaker 1: is from Music Business Worldwide dot com. Coca Cola denies

2:57 Speaker 1: Johnny Cash sound to like claim disputes and ringement in

3:00 Speaker 1: a state lawsuit. So let's see it says here the

3:03 Speaker 1: Coca Cola company pushed back against a lawsuit filed by

3:06 Speaker 1: the estate of Johnny Cash, denying that a singer used

3:11 Speaker 1: in a college football themed commercial infringed on the late

3:14 Speaker 1: country icons voice rights. Now, before we go any further,

3:19 Speaker 1: this is something Jenny and I argued about on the show, debated,

3:23 Speaker 1: sort of argued, we have more clicks on social media

3:27 Speaker 1: if we say, argue, what if what if someone happens

3:34 Speaker 1: to sound like someone famous? This is a question that

3:38 Speaker 1: gets raised when we talk about.

3:41 Speaker 2: Not TikTok.

3:42 Speaker 1: I'm sorry when we talk about Spotify, for example, a

3:45 Speaker 1: music streaming platform. Say you have an artist who has

3:50 Speaker 1: a voice that happens to sound like somebody famous. Now

3:53 Speaker 1: you are not allowed, of course, these streaming services do

3:55 Speaker 1: not allow you to intentionally upload things that represent what

4:02 Speaker 1: it is as being legitimate when it's not so. In

4:04 Speaker 1: other words, if you will use Taylor Swift as an example, again,

4:08 Speaker 1: because obviously everyone knows who Taylor Swift is, Let's say

4:12 Speaker 1: you were to upload something and present it as Taylor Swift.

4:16 Speaker 1: You can't do that because you're not Taylor Swift. But

4:19 Speaker 1: what if you happen to sound like Taylor Swift and

4:21 Speaker 1: you upload something that you're not trying to pass it

4:24 Speaker 1: off as Taylor Swift, but you happen to sound like her.

4:28 Speaker 1: And the reason that comes up is because then there

4:30 Speaker 1: is this question. Well, obviously, if you are a person

4:36 Speaker 1: of notoriety, if you're famous, you own of course, you

4:41 Speaker 1: own the rights to your own image and likeness and

4:45 Speaker 1: all that, but what about your voice? And this is

4:49 Speaker 1: something that that Jenny and I had had quite the

4:51 Speaker 1: discussion about, we'll put it that way on the air

4:53 Speaker 1: on the show months ago, because this had come up

4:58 Speaker 1: where Scarlett Johansen was soon somebody, I don't remember who.

5:02 Speaker 1: She was suing a company that was using what she

5:05 Speaker 1: claimed was an AI generated version of her voice, because

5:08 Speaker 1: this company had approached her about being the voice of something,

5:11 Speaker 1: some app or something, and she said no, So instead

5:17 Speaker 1: they went ahead and had this app have what sounded

5:20 Speaker 1: like her voice. Now it wasn't her, according to this company.

5:23 Speaker 1: It wasn't even an AI generated version of her.

5:26 Speaker 2: It was.

5:29 Speaker 1: Just another just a voice actress who sounded like her.

5:32 Speaker 1: But then you get into the question of see, it

5:34 Speaker 1: gets so complicated. Is the voice actress do they just

5:37 Speaker 1: happen to sound like Scarlett Johansson or are they intentionally

5:40 Speaker 1: doing an impression of Scarlett Johansson so that you think

5:42 Speaker 1: it's Scarlett Johansson. See again, it's easy to talk about

5:47 Speaker 1: the rights to your likeness, to your image, but when

5:50 Speaker 1: we talk about the rights to your voice, what if

5:54 Speaker 1: somebody else happens to sound like you? Then it gets dicey. Right,

6:00 Speaker 1: So again I say, all that to say is circling

6:03 Speaker 1: back to this. So Coca Cola is denying that they

6:08 Speaker 1: infringed upon the rights the voice rights of the estate

6:13 Speaker 1: of Johnny Cash. Okay, So we get back to the article.

6:17 Speaker 1: So it says here Cash has a state filed in

6:19 Speaker 1: the lawsuit and US District Court in Nashville. In November

6:22 Speaker 1: of twenty five, allegend Coca Cola hired a tribute singer

6:26 Speaker 1: to record vocals for a commercial that started airing in

6:30 Speaker 1: August twenty twenty five. Okay, so if they hired it,

6:36 Speaker 1: Now here's the thing again. This is another layer of

6:39 Speaker 1: where it gets complicated here. If you are a tribute act,

6:44 Speaker 1: So say you are a Johnny Cash tribute artist, you

6:50 Speaker 1: go and you do shows, and you do the whole

6:52 Speaker 1: show as Johnny Cash.

6:53 Speaker 2: Right.

6:54 Speaker 1: This is not a new thing. Of course, lots of

6:55 Speaker 1: tribute tribute acts, tribute bands. You know, Kisses, my favorite

6:59 Speaker 1: band is like a million in histribute bands out there.

7:01 Speaker 2: Right.

7:02 Speaker 1: If you do that, of course you're going to try

7:03 Speaker 1: to sound like that artist, or who knows, maybe you

7:06 Speaker 1: naturally sound like that artist, and maybe that's the whole

7:09 Speaker 1: reason you got into doing a tribute to them, because

7:11 Speaker 1: you happen to have a voice similar to them. I mean,

7:13 Speaker 1: it's hard to believe anybody sounds like Johnny Cash, right,

7:15 Speaker 1: but it's certainly possible.

7:18 Speaker 2: So it says here.

7:18 Speaker 1: Coca Cola filed its answer on May eighth, denying that

7:23 Speaker 1: the ad infringed Cash's voice and denying the existence of

7:28 Speaker 1: an infringing ad. However, the company did acknowledge that the

7:32 Speaker 1: ad contained a male singing voice and that the company

7:36 Speaker 1: quote caused the advertisement to appear on television, some social media,

7:42 Speaker 1: and some online platforms. It says here quote, the Coca

7:49 Speaker 1: Cola Company admits that the advertisement appeared on ABC, NBC, FOX,

7:54 Speaker 1: FS one, BTN, TN T, ESPN, ESPN two, TBS, and

7:59 Speaker 1: True TV. The Coca Cola Company admits that the advertisement

8:03 Speaker 1: first aired during the twenty twenty five fall college football season. Unquote,

8:10 Speaker 1: So they're not acknowledging any you know that in any

8:12 Speaker 1: way infringed upon or was supposed to sound like Johnny Cash.

8:16 Speaker 1: I guess they're just denying that. It'd be great if

8:19 Speaker 1: we could find the ad. I'd like to find the

8:21 Speaker 1: ad and see, you know, it's probably I'm sure it's

8:26 Speaker 1: on YouTube right. Maybe I can find it quickly, Okay.

8:28 Speaker 1: The company also confirmed that the ad included imagery from

8:31 Speaker 1: the University of Michigan, the University of Notre Dame, the

8:33 Speaker 1: University of Southern California, Louisiana State University and Ohio State University,

8:39 Speaker 1: schools with which it has or had commercial relationships. However,

8:44 Speaker 1: Coca Cola denied the estate's cores allegations. Lawyers for the

8:48 Speaker 1: beverage Giants said, quote the Coca Cola Company admits that

8:53 Speaker 1: the singing voice included in the advertisement is not the

8:56 Speaker 1: voice of Johnny Cash unquote. The company rejected the estate's

9:01 Speaker 1: claims that it used a sound alike singer in the ad.

9:03 Speaker 2: Quote.

9:04 Speaker 1: The Coca Cola Company denies the allegations embedded in the

9:08 Speaker 1: defined term sound alike singer. The Coca Cola Company admits

9:12 Speaker 1: that the singer appears to have a website that includes

9:16 Speaker 1: the quoted language unquote, reads the filing. I don't understand

9:20 Speaker 1: what that last part means. Well, maybe it explains it here.

9:24 Speaker 1: That quoted language refers to an allegation from the Cash

9:26 Speaker 1: to state that the singer in question advertises himself via

9:30 Speaker 1: a website calling him quote the number one Johnny Cash

9:34 Speaker 1: Tribute Show. Oh so, based on where we've gotten so far,

9:42 Speaker 1: and there is more, but let's look at where we

9:45 Speaker 1: are now. And again, to remind everyone, I am not

9:48 Speaker 1: a legal expert of any kind. I have no legal background.

9:51 Speaker 1: I'm not an attorney. I just happen to find this

9:53 Speaker 1: stuff interesting. I do know a little bit about intellectual

9:56 Speaker 1: property and things of that nature, just because of my

9:59 Speaker 1: background and some of the work that I've done, but

10:01 Speaker 1: I'm far from an expert, so I am speaking as

10:03 Speaker 1: a layman here, and I would just say so far

10:06 Speaker 1: to me, this sounds a little bit damning. In other words,

10:08 Speaker 1: if Coca Cola is trying to play this off as

10:11 Speaker 1: we did not intentionally try to make this, because it

10:14 Speaker 1: sounds like this is a roundabout way of saying we

10:16 Speaker 1: didn't try to make this sound like Johnny Cash. We

10:18 Speaker 1: didn't try to fool anybody into thinking that this was

10:20 Speaker 1: Johnny Cash. We just what We just happened to hire

10:25 Speaker 1: a singer who advertises himself on his website as the

10:28 Speaker 1: number one Johnny Cash tribute show. But that doesn't mean

10:31 Speaker 1: that we're directly infringing. But again again, and I want

10:35 Speaker 1: to get a leak. You know, one of these days

10:37 Speaker 1: we got we have to get an attorney on the show,

10:39 Speaker 1: because we have so many questions.

10:41 Speaker 2: Jenny and I.

10:41 Speaker 1: When I say we, I mean Jenny and I both,

10:43 Speaker 1: because you know, these are things that We've discussed a

10:45 Speaker 1: lot on the show over the years. But again, is

10:49 Speaker 1: it is it considered infringement if it's someone who is

10:54 Speaker 1: doing an imitation and impression, Like, what makes it an infringement?

10:58 Speaker 1: Is it just that they sound like Johnny Cash and

11:00 Speaker 1: people are fooled by it?

11:03 Speaker 2: Probably?

11:03 Speaker 1: Again speaking as a layman, Yeah, that's probably infringement. If

11:06 Speaker 1: you're intentionally trying to deceive people, then I would say yes.

11:13 Speaker 1: If you're not intentionally trying to deceive anyone, and the

11:15 Speaker 1: singer in question just happens to sound.

11:17 Speaker 2: Like Johnny Cash.

11:19 Speaker 1: Okay, but I'm kind of not buying it, especially when

11:25 Speaker 1: this dude again he plugs himself on his website as

11:28 Speaker 1: being the number one Johnny Cash tribute show. All right,

11:32 Speaker 1: let's see there's more to this again. This is from

11:35 Speaker 1: Music Businessworldwide dot Com, again one of my favorite websites

11:38 Speaker 1: for music industry news.

11:39 Speaker 2: It says here, the.

11:40 Speaker 1: Cash estate lawsuit invokes Tennessee's Elvis Act, enacted in March

11:46 Speaker 1: of twenty twenty four. Oh, by the way, there's something

11:49 Speaker 1: similar here in New Hampshire. And this is what Jenny

11:51 Speaker 1: has talked about because she was a part of it

11:53 Speaker 1: when she served in the New Hampshire State Legislature the JD.

11:57 Speaker 2: Salinger Act.

11:58 Speaker 1: Salinger, of course, a very famous author who is from

12:01 Speaker 1: New Hampshire, and this very issue came up in terms

12:04 Speaker 1: of the use of his likeness for something and or

12:07 Speaker 1: his name for something, and so they passed they passed

12:11 Speaker 1: a similar act, and Salinger is in the I don't

12:15 Speaker 1: remember the exact name of the law here in New Hampshire,

12:18 Speaker 1: but you would think there'd be federal I'm sure there

12:20 Speaker 1: are federal laws about this, but obviously we have a

12:22 Speaker 1: patchwork of state laws as well when it comes to this.

12:25 Speaker 1: But they passed a law here in New Hampshire, the

12:26 Speaker 1: state legislature did when Jenny was serving about that. I

12:29 Speaker 1: think it might literally be called the JD. Sounder Act.

12:32 Speaker 1: I'm not sure, but it's about protecting someone's name and

12:35 Speaker 1: likeness from being used commercially in a way that the

12:37 Speaker 1: family does not approve of. So apparently Tennessee they have

12:40 Speaker 1: the Elvis Act. Okay, it protects likeness, voice and image rights.

12:45 Speaker 1: The law defines, Now this is important. The law defines

12:49 Speaker 1: voice as quote a sound in a medium that is

12:53 Speaker 1: readily identifiable and attributable to a particular individual, regardless of

12:58 Speaker 1: whether the sound contains is the actual voice or a

13:01 Speaker 1: simulation unquote. So according to the Elvis Act, if I'm

13:05 Speaker 1: reading that correctly, in Tennessee.

13:07 Speaker 2: You can't do a sound alike. You can't do a.

13:09 Speaker 1: Tribute and say now, that's fine. Certainly not if the

13:15 Speaker 1: estate of the person who's you know you're imitating objects,

13:20 Speaker 1: it says here. The state also brought claims under the

13:23 Speaker 1: Tennessee Consumer Protection Act and the Federal Landham Act. Coca

13:28 Speaker 1: Cola denied a liability on all three accounts. So according

13:35 Speaker 1: to according to the estate, this is in there. This

13:39 Speaker 1: is from their filing. Quote, the trust failed to take

13:43 Speaker 1: reasonable action to minimize any damage allegedly sustained as a

13:46 Speaker 1: result of the facts alleged in the complaint. Oh, I'm sorry,

13:50 Speaker 1: this is from This is from Coca Cola. This is

13:53 Speaker 1: their attorney's responding. I apologize, I got that backward. So

13:56 Speaker 1: this is their response. Coca Cola's response, their attorney's response

14:00 Speaker 1: to the lawsuit. Quote, the trust failed. The trust, referring

14:03 Speaker 1: to the estate, failed to take responsibility responsible I'm sorry,

14:06 Speaker 1: reasonable action to minimize any damages allegedly sustained as a

14:11 Speaker 1: result of the facts alleged in the complaint, and is

14:13 Speaker 1: therefore barred from recovering any damages which might reasonably have

14:17 Speaker 1: been avoided unquote. In its response, Coca Cola raised a

14:22 Speaker 1: number of grounds to dismiss all claims, including that the

14:24 Speaker 1: trust quote lacks standing to assert the rights underlying its

14:29 Speaker 1: claims unquote, that the trust claims quote.

14:32 Speaker 2: Are barred in whole or.

14:34 Speaker 1: In part by the First Amendment unquote, and that the

14:38 Speaker 1: state law claims quote are barred in whole or in

14:41 Speaker 1: part because they are preempted by federal law unquote. That

14:44 Speaker 1: last part is particularly interesting to me. So in other words,

14:47 Speaker 1: they're saying, well, you can't use the Elvis Act because

14:50 Speaker 1: federal laws supersedes it. And to that I would say, well,

14:55 Speaker 1: does it really, Because if you know anything about this stuff,

14:59 Speaker 1: you know they're are you know, there's the concept of federalism,

15:03 Speaker 1: that and the Tenth Amendment. And we used to back

15:06 Speaker 1: when we used to do politics on this show, which

15:08 Speaker 1: we don't do anymore or not in the not in

15:10 Speaker 1: this iteration of the program here at WMNH, but we

15:13 Speaker 1: used to talk about that a lot, you know, states

15:14 Speaker 1: rights versus federal rights and states will often enact laws,

15:21 Speaker 1: and they would argue that you can do that under

15:23 Speaker 1: the tenth Amendment of the Constitution, an act laws that

15:26 Speaker 1: maybe do not comport with what the federal law is,

15:29 Speaker 1: and the theory that federal law always supersedes state law.

15:33 Speaker 1: But does it really and you can kind of give

15:36 Speaker 1: give examples of where it does and where it doesn't.

15:39 Speaker 1: You know, for example, when we talk about things like

15:42 Speaker 1: decriminalization and legalization of marijuana, will federal law says it's illegal,

15:46 Speaker 1: but individual states have legalized it, et cetera.

15:49 Speaker 2: So it's quite the rabbit hole that you can go down.

15:52 Speaker 1: But the argument that Coca Cola's legal team seems to

15:55 Speaker 1: be making, one of them, one of several, is that

15:59 Speaker 1: they can do this. If I'm reading this correctly, the

16:01 Speaker 1: First Amendment of the Constitution says they can do this.

16:05 Speaker 2: They're free to do this.

16:07 Speaker 1: So I guess, in a roundabout way, they're claiming that

16:09 Speaker 1: the Elvis Act in Tennessee, under which Coca Cola is

16:13 Speaker 1: being sued, the grounds that they're violating that is unconstitutional.

16:19 Speaker 1: It violates the First Amendment. That seems to be the

16:21 Speaker 1: argument they're making. It says here the estate had earlier

16:25 Speaker 1: accused the company of entering into endorsement agreements with entertainers, musicians,

16:29 Speaker 1: and athletes quote to induce consumers to purchase its products unquote.

16:35 Speaker 1: Coca Cola acknowledged having endorsements, but denied the estates claim

16:40 Speaker 1: that it uses the endorsements to induce customers to buy

16:44 Speaker 1: its products. Okay, now, what I want to do very

16:48 Speaker 1: quickly if we can, and I, like I said, I

16:51 Speaker 1: didn't have a chance to pre read that before we

16:53 Speaker 1: went on the air, or I would have this ready.

16:56 Speaker 1: So I'm going to try to find this as quickly

16:58 Speaker 1: as I can.

16:58 Speaker 2: I want to.

16:59 Speaker 1: Find the ad. I want to actually hear the ad

17:02 Speaker 1: and see. Okay, Coca Cola Johnny Cash ad. I want

17:06 Speaker 1: to see if it actually does sound like Johnny Cash.

17:14 Speaker 2: Well.

17:14 Speaker 1: I found one from seventeen years ago, but it's clearly

17:19 Speaker 1: not that one because Johnny Cash was still alive seventeen

17:21 Speaker 1: years ago. I don't know if I'm gonna be able

17:23 Speaker 1: to find it. See, it might not even be available

17:25 Speaker 1: on YouTube because if it was, the estate might have

17:29 Speaker 1: had it pulled. Hang on, let me see what this is.

17:40 Speaker 1: This is definitely it. Okay, I found it looks like

17:42 Speaker 1: there's more than one. Okay, this is definitely it August

17:45 Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. Okay, let's listen to this. This is

17:48 Speaker 1: the ad. This is the ad that the.

17:50 Speaker 2: Estate is suing. Over and again.

17:53 Speaker 1: Let's listen to this while keeping in mind that, well,

17:58 Speaker 1: does it sound like Johnny cash and does it sound

18:02 Speaker 1: so much like Johnny cash that a reasonable person would

18:04 Speaker 1: be fooled? And therefore the estate has a case because

18:08 Speaker 1: they clearly tried to pass this. They wanted people to

18:11 Speaker 1: think it was Johnny cash Er or whatever.

18:13 Speaker 2: I mean.

18:14 Speaker 1: There's several allegations here, but let's listen to the actual ad.

18:17 Speaker 1: Let's see and again. Coca Cola quick disclaimer. They are

18:21 Speaker 1: not in any way associated with the program. They do

18:23 Speaker 1: not sponsor the show. They're not a sponsor of WM

18:25 Speaker 1: and H, none of that. This is not an endorsement

18:27 Speaker 1: of Coca Cola, nor is it a condemnation of Coca Cola.

18:30 Speaker 1: We are simply for the sake of this discussion and analysis,

18:35 Speaker 1: we are going to play the ad here we go.

18:43 Speaker 2: Stand with Fire inside this arts drum album subside.

18:54 Speaker 1: Hey, okay, we're halfway through the ad. We're at fourteen seconds.

18:57 Speaker 1: It's a thirty second ad. Can I just say this,

19:00 Speaker 1: I don't think it sounds like Johnny Cash. What do

19:03 Speaker 1: you all think. I'd be very curious to get some

19:05 Speaker 1: audience feedback on this. I don't think it sounds like

19:07 Speaker 1: Johnny Cash. Here's what I think it sounds like. I

19:10 Speaker 1: think it sounds like someone singing in a style similar

19:13 Speaker 1: to Johnny Cash. Like, you know, that's who this guy is, right,

19:17 Speaker 1: he claims on his website he's the world's greatest Johnny

19:21 Speaker 1: Cash impersonator of all time, in the entire universe, or

19:24 Speaker 1: however it was that he put it. But I don't

19:26 Speaker 1: think it actually sounds like Johnny Cash. I think it

19:28 Speaker 1: sounds like someone singing in the style of Johnny Cash.

19:30 Speaker 1: But it does not sound like Johnny Cash to me.

19:33 Speaker 1: Let's hear the rest of the ad. You'd be the judge.

19:38 Speaker 2: Here's the all right.

19:50 Speaker 1: Well, first of all, because of the effects of the

19:52 Speaker 1: crowd noise in the ad, it's almost hard to clearly

19:55 Speaker 1: hear the voice. But guys, you know, I started out

20:00 Speaker 1: thinking that Coca Cola was in the wrong here, but

20:02 Speaker 1: now I'm starting to think they're not. I don't think

20:04 Speaker 1: that sounds like Johnny Cash. I think this is a

20:07 Speaker 1: frivolous lawsuit. That does not sound like Johnny Cash.

20:09 Speaker 2: To me.

20:10 Speaker 1: That sounds like someone vaguely singing in a style like

20:13 Speaker 1: Johnny Cash. But I don't think that. Let's play just

20:16 Speaker 1: the beginning again, because in the beginning you can more

20:18 Speaker 1: clearly hear the voice. By the time you get to

20:20 Speaker 1: the end of the ad, there's all this crowd noise

20:22 Speaker 1: and the vocal track in the ad gets buried a

20:26 Speaker 1: little bit. Let's hear the beginning again. Let's stand.

20:33 Speaker 2: Now with fir and side.

20:37 Speaker 1: Arts drunk. I would upside okay, if you had played

20:45 Speaker 1: this for me. This is just my opinion. If you

20:48 Speaker 1: had played this for me and you said to me, Matt,

20:52 Speaker 1: who does that sound like to you? I would probably

20:56 Speaker 1: say something like, hmm, kind of reminds me of Johnny Cash.

21:00 Speaker 1: What I would not say is that's Johnny Cash. I

21:03 Speaker 1: might say it kind of reminds me of Johnny Cash,

21:06 Speaker 1: but reminds me of and sounds exactly like or is

21:10 Speaker 1: definitely trying to fool somebody. That's not the same thing.

21:14 Speaker 1: A lot of things sound like other things. A lot

21:16 Speaker 1: of artists sound like other artists. A lot of voices

21:18 Speaker 1: kind of remind you of other voices or are evocative

21:20 Speaker 1: of other things that you might hear. That's not the

21:22 Speaker 1: same thing as copying. And I guess what I'm saying is,

21:26 Speaker 1: if to use the legal term, that's not the same

21:28 Speaker 1: as infringement. Let's see, Oh, our friend Charles Richardson is

21:32 Speaker 1: in the chat room and has some feedback on this.

21:34 Speaker 1: Let's see what Charles has to say. Of course, Charles Richardson,

21:36 Speaker 1: host of The Charles Richardson Show. He says, also, Coca

21:41 Speaker 1: Cola denies having a certain drug that starts with coca

21:44 Speaker 1: included in their drink.

21:46 Speaker 2: Well, that that's true. There's there's that story. I assume

21:49 Speaker 2: it's I assume it's true.

21:51 Speaker 1: It's often been told that Coca Cola originally the reason

21:55 Speaker 1: it's called that the original formulation of Coca Cola had caffeine. Not,

22:00 Speaker 1: of course it has caffeine, Uh, had cocaine in it.

22:03 Speaker 1: That's what I've always heard. Obviously it does not now,

22:07 Speaker 1: Charles said, but we know better. Charles also said, sounds

22:10 Speaker 1: like an average country style singer, Yes, thank you. Charles

22:13 Speaker 1: agrees with me. Yeah, that does not sound like Johnny Cash.

22:16 Speaker 1: So this is a money grab. That's Judge Connorton has

22:20 Speaker 1: ruled I don't have a gavel. I can slay my

22:21 Speaker 1: water bottle. Judge Connerton has ruled case dismissed. This is

22:26 Speaker 1: a money grab. It is a frivolous lawsuit by the

22:29 Speaker 1: estate of Johnny Cash. That does not sound like Johnny

22:31 Speaker 1: Cash in the commercial. I'm sorry that someone who happens

22:34 Speaker 1: to be a Johnny Cash tribute singer just you know,

22:38 Speaker 1: happens to sound a little bit like him in the ad.

22:41 Speaker 2: But that would not fool me. Now, maybe that does

22:45 Speaker 2: fool some.

22:45 Speaker 1: People, and maybe the lawyers for the estate are approaching

22:49 Speaker 1: it like, well, the average person is easily fooled.

22:53 Speaker 2: But come on, it didn't fool me.

22:57 Speaker 1: Okay, Uh that that clearly like if I'd heard that

23:01 Speaker 1: cold and you had said, and you had said to me,

23:06 Speaker 1: you know, Matt, who is this, I wouldn't say it

23:08 Speaker 1: was Johnny Cash. I would say it was something I

23:10 Speaker 1: might say it was someone might say it was someone

23:12 Speaker 1: who reminded me of Jhnny Cash. Or Charles pointed out,

23:15 Speaker 1: you know, might just remind you of uh, you know,

23:19 Speaker 1: your your average country singer with with some twang in

23:22 Speaker 1: his voice. We're gonna move on from that We'll keep

23:24 Speaker 1: an eye on that story though. Going forward again these

23:26 Speaker 1: topics of intellectual property and infringement and copyright and trademark

23:30 Speaker 1: and likeness likenesses of one's voice again as we move

23:33 Speaker 1: into the AI area, although this particular story turns out

23:36 Speaker 1: had nothing to do with AI directly, but these issues

23:39 Speaker 1: will continue to take center stage, so we will keep

23:42 Speaker 1: an eye on that