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 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.