When I say this, I don’t say it lightly. Copyright is in trouble, there is a major problem with copyright in the Courts. You have to be in the middle of it to be widely awakened by it, and I was.
A four year Court case was never something I ever wanted to be a part of and never wanted four years of my life to be on a copyright case against Katy Perry. I went to bed one night and saw her lyrics she posted when I was a fan and they were Very close to mine and too close to be ok about it and I tried to deal with her team privately but it resulted in further action being taken and a four year copyright case was the result. One, I learned so much about the industry, the Court system and all the problems with both. Things look good on paper in life but it’s not how it works in real life is the sum of the case. Our songs never got to the stage of being compared in the Court of law even after 4 years. I never made it past the motion to dismiss stage because I wasn’t a big enough singer songwriter to survive .. “Access”. The big word you have to have with any copyright case if you don’t have direct proof of how they got your song. I didn’t have direct proof in my allegations and only had some parts “figured out” in my allegations but not the whole chain.
So, for 4 years we went thru many stages in two Courts trying to get passed the stage of “Access” to get to the part proving they are too close without having copied it. I lost in district Court and appeals on “Access”, not on whether they were too close or not. There was case law the Judges could have used if they wanted to change “Access” for the smaller artists but these Judges did not want to use Skidmore, which would have changed everything in the industry. Things were heading that way to narrow down the legal focus on Skidmore, if I continued with Appeals. But, we came to an agreement with both our teams for both of us to give something for me not to move forward anymore with the case. I prayed a lot about it, and it’s far from what I wanted, but I knew the Court system wasn’t helping me with “Access” and were not using Skidmore so I couldn’t keep going even though I should have been able to and needed to for Copyright.
I tried as hard as I could to fight for the little artists who can’t survive “Access” if their songs ever get stolen, which I alleged mine was. I know our songs never got compared in Court and I feel I didn’t get the Justice I deserved to be heard about the real issue other then how did they get my song for four years, but I learned a lot more than I ever could have imagined about the industry and the Court system and a lot just about life. I don’t regret moving forward with the case but I do wish it turned out differently. I know Skidmore, which is case law that helps “Access” will be used soon in the future with Judges who see the major need for “Access” changes and I know my case will be used forever as case law with both sides fighting about “Access” and one day it will flip. I did my part and will continue to fight for copyright reform in many ways and if I ever get the hand in the cookie jar proof with smoking gun evidence needed, I will be back with a new case. Until that day happens, this case is closed and I want to move on. If one learned anything about me, it’s that I’m a fighter until the end no matter what, but with a big heart who’s only after making things right.
I don’t hate the industry and I don’t believe all Labels are bad, there’s very good people in the industry but I know which ones I’m not working with now, and I don’t believe all parties in my case were bad. I hate the problem that happened and have my opinions I will keep to myself. I hope Katy sees me as somebody who loved my music and someday I hope Katy cares about making things right with me. I have much bigger things to focus on than this case but it will always be a part of what happened in my life and with my music.
