IMPORTANT NOTICE: RE-RELEASE AND REBRANDING

Not many of you know I come from a family of lawyers. Oh, and artists. But lawyers too. And for some reason this seems to haunt me. I didn’t mean to become one, but I worked as a legal secretary in an office specialised in intellectual property law for about 5 years, and I learned quite a bit during that time. 

I have seen a lot of lawyers and such over the past years, apart from my family members and former colleagues. There were several included in WOW the Show. Dreaming of Kate started not with a band, but with a sollicitor to make sure we didn’t cross any legal boundaries. 

I thought that making my own music would make things easier compared to doing a tribute and having to learn different intellectual property and music laws in different countries. But apparently even in a creative field, where you’ hope there would be lots of positive energy flowing around, people can’t let other people be. 

I won’t share all the details, but lately I have been threatened with legal actions by a band from America with the same name. I usually don’t mention names, but in this case it’s a bit hard not to. I know enough about intellectual property and trademark law to not be threatened easily by someone who claims my facebook page is ‘their intellectual property’ (unless Mark Zuckerberg would send me that email personally). There are numerous double band names out there, and I knew that the name Mycah wasn’t trademarked at that point, so I had every right to use it. 

I have tried to solve the situation in a nice way, and when they become even more aggressive I tried to solve the situation in at least a reasonable way, with the help of some very good trademark lawyers. But the other band still insisted on becoming increasingly aggressive, and filed for a trademark (AFTER they became aware of my existence). Long story short: they have now basically driven the situation to a point where I would have to trademark my name separately in every EU country where I want to be active as ‘Mycah’. Which would not only cost a lot of money, but more importantly: a LOT of energy.

My legal DNA keeps telling me to prove my case and to fight the injustice, but my creative DNA wants to just enjoy life and make music. I could pursue this, and I know I could win (at least in part), but maybe for once I should give up, come up with a new name and focus on all that’s good and beautiful in this world again (and not get distracted by the hatred and aggressiveness ‘some’ people seem to want to throw my way). 

In conclusion: as of tomorrow, my album won’t be available for a while. There will be a re-release of the album, but as I’m still searching for a new name that does not even contain the name ‘Mycah’, it will probably take a couple of weeks before it’s available again. I will keep you posted. If you have a good suggestion for a name, don’t hesitate to pm me by the way… 

Onwards and upwards! 


Love, Maaike 

PS: I rarely dislike other people, but this band has made an exception for themselves, and I hope karma will hit them sooner rather than later. Even my lawyers are amazed and appalled by the aggressiveness and unwillingness of these people.

PPS: My lawyers advise you not to listen to the other band’s music, as they don’t think it’s worth listening to…

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