Stand with Kady Rain: Defend Her Name and Artistic Freedom

For more than two decades, I have been writing, recording, releasing, performing, and licensing music as Kady Rain—which also happens to be my real legal first and middle name that can be found on all of my identification. In 2015 and then again in 2020, an evangelical Christian artist also named Kady Rain filed for trademarks to the name Kady Rain, even though she had not been releasing music as long as me and was aware that I was already well established in music as Kady Rain. I have been featured in NPR, the Austin Chronicle, the Austin American-Statesman, and more, and have performed at ACL, SXSW, and many more events. Now that this evangelical Christian artist has acquired the trademarks, she has sent trademark infringement claims to streaming platforms and even media outlets, demanding that they take down any material featuring me, alleging that my status as a queer, sex-positive artist 'defames' her brand, despite my brand being more recognizable and established than hers, as a cursory comparison of our social media, streaming, and Google results ably proves.

In order to fight these nuisance trademarks, I need to hire a trademark litigant to contest this other Kady Rain's trademark as fraud and get the trademarks canceled, or possibly settle for different terms. I am asking the community, especially the music and queer communities, to help me in this battle, whether it be by sharing my situation and my art and music or by contributing to a legal fund. My first consultation with a trademark litigant made it clear that we would need a minimum of $5,000 to launch a fraud cancellation case. Obviously, this is an astronomical amount for anyone, but I believe it is a necessary expense because if I don't proceed, this artist will continue to use these trademarks to silence me and remove my art on all platforms simply because I exist as a queer, sex-positive artist. Please help me keep my name and continue to release music and art to make the world a more colorful and accepting place. Any donation in any amount helps me to fight this.