Just one year after his successful lawsuit against Volkswagen-Audi in Spain, Tom Waits has successfully prevented another car manufacturer from impersonating the legendary - and distinctive - singer for a commercial. In this latest case, he filed suit against General Motors' Opel and the advertising agency McCann Erickson in Frankfurt, Germany last year.

The judgement is the latest in a line of successful legal actions the fiercely independent Waits has taken to prevent his music and image from being associated with commercial products. Waits's first lawsuit was filed in 1988 against Frito Lay, and resulted in a US$2.6 million judgment in his favor. That company 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 Change's "Step Right Up", which is, ironically, a song Waits has called "an indictment of advertising.

He famously condemned musicians who used songs in commercials, saying: "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."

As for this case, Waits noted:

I'm glad to be out of the car sales business once and for all.

Waits will donate his net settlement proceeds to an unnamed charity.