Tom Waits Wins Battle With VW-Audi

Gravel-voiced singer TOM WAITS has triumphed in his court battle with Volkswagen-Audi, after the car firm hired an impersonator to sing one of his songs in a Spanish TV advert.

Yesterday (19JAN06) Barcelona's Appeal Court ruled the car giant had breached Waits' copyright by hiring a soundalike singer to perform a version of INNOCENT WHEN YOU DREAM, with the lyrics slighted altered.

Waits' spokesman said the rocker had received "several thousand euros" in compensation from Volkswagen-Audi and Tandem Campmany Guasch - the advertising firm responsible for the ad.

Triumphant Waits says, "Now they understand the words to the song better. It wasn't Innocent When You Scheme, it was Innocent When You Dream."

Waits is also suing Opel and a German advertising agency for allegedly using a soundalike in a series of European TV advertisements.