Today, it was just announced on Twitter that the lawsuit between Faleena Hopkins and the Cocktales Anthology group of authors (Cocky Collective), Jennifer Watson, Tara Crescent, and Kevin Kneupper have been dropped and the trademark enforcement surrendered. Yes, all of this fight ended up in court, with Faleena Hopkins suing a large group of defendants, and it was announced today it is over!

View the tweet announcement here!

But why let this get this out of hand? I’ve read a lot on both sides of the issue. Everyone was fighting for what they thought was right. Faleena Hopkins was fighting to preserve her brand and the group of other Indie authors, were fighting to preserve their right to use the word “Cocky”. I’m not surprised it all ended up in the courts, because that’s how things can get when you’re doing business. I guess, that is something to keep in mind while being an Indie or self-published author. Research what you are doing. Believe in yourself, and fight for what you believe in.

Whether this is a good win or bad loss? I think it really deserves a look at the overall picture. I’ve seen this written up as a lot of “romance writers” having a cat fight. I’ve seen it demeaned into something of silly importance. But as it has been going on, it was pretty obvious how it could be applied to all genres, copywriting of words and series names to the benefit of the trademark holder. I think looking at the big picture was the best way to approach it, and belittling the significance has been the work of people that don’t understand the romance industry or how Indie publishing works. It was an easy way to take a blow at both.

Now that it is settled and dying down, I’m taking away that self-publishing has to be looked at as a business. Things can get ugly and real fast. Caution and research is always the best road to take in my opinion. Maybe people will look back at this time of history as the early days of the internet and how things were establishing. We’ll be able to say, we were there making history.

• Here’s the link of Faleena Hopkins saying she has given up her trademark on YouTube. 
• Withdrawn trademark listed on the US TradeMark Office Website. 

-Lynda