Shannon Neu
    A&E Editor

Being trapped in a contract with a major recording label is not an unheard of challenge for artists in the music industry. However, Kesha’s situation, which has been dominating entertainment news for over a month, stands out. After she risked her reputation and safety in to fight to be released from her abuser and cut her ties with Sony Music, her requests were denied.

Kesha filed the lawsuit against producer Dr. Luke and his Sony-owned label, Kemosabe Records, in October 2014. She claims that since she signed onto the label in 2005, Dr. Luke sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally abused her. He controlled her through manipulation and threats, and it eventually led to her having to go to rehab for a life-threatening eating disorder. Kesha claimed that any further contact with Dr. Luke would be life-threatening. All she requested from the court was to let her out of her contract and to let her end her relationship with Sony.

The court ultimately ruled that Kesha must finish her contract with Sony, which will involve recording four more records, but she does not have to work in the physical presence of Dr. Luke.

A pop album can take anywhere between one and three years — or even longer —  to finish, which means Kesha is stuck working with Sony for at least four more years. While she could buy out her remaining time with Sony, it would be incredibly expensive, especially since she is viewed as a valuable asset that Sony cannot afford to lose.

Sony has already invested over $11 million into promoting Kesha, and Dr. Luke’s lawyers said in a statement that “they are committed to continue to promote her work.”

Or, rather — they are committed to holding her captive and continuing to use her as a way to make money.

Sony chose to protect the company’s stake in Kesha’s future, rather than Kesha herself. By insisting she will never work with Dr. Luke again in person, Sony is minimizing how dangerous Kesha’s situation is and how badly she thinks Dr. Luke’s continued involvement in her career will affect her safety and well-being. It downplays the fact that he not only abused her physically and sexually, but he also abused her psychologically and emotionally, which he can still do if she continues to record with Sony. Even if he is in a different room, he has power over her and can carry on with threatening her well-being. He can continue to profit from her work. He could even bury her future albums by keeping her from publicizing them.

Sexual abuse can be hard to prove, and reporting it often further harms survivors. So far, this has definitely been the case for Kesha. If she can prove her allegations are true, she may be able to invalidate her contract due to a “frustration of the contract,” which happens when one party involved in the contract crosses the line so badly it frustrates the purpose of the contract. While rape absolutely crosses the line far enough to frustrate the contract, Kesha would need to find a way to prove it even happened.

Women in the music industry have so little control over their careers as it is. Kesha already risked a lot, including her dignity and reputation, to fight this battle publicly. She will never have a way to prove to the court that she was sexually abused. She will never have a video or a doctor’s note. She will never have anything beyond the power of her word. Sony easily could have made this disappear by releasing her from a decade-long contract that has been physically and psychologically destroying her from the beginning. Instead, Sony decided that protecting the amount of money she makes for the company is more important than protecting a human being. And that is appalling.

The entertainment industry reeks of misogyny and has a long history of controlling and abusing women who only want to find success in a notoriously competitive business. This situation is also a prime example of how the legal system continues to degrade and hurt women by failing to protect them from their abusers, because apparently the safety of a corporation is much more important than that of a woman.

In the past month, Kesha has received a huge amount of support from fans and other artists. Taylor Swift donated $250,000 to assist her, Lady Gaga defended her several times on social media and Adele made a statement at the Brit Awards in support of her. The hashtag #FreeKesha went viral soon after the ruling. Earlier this month, supporters projected powerful statements such as “Sony, drop Dr. Luke,” “Sony, protect your artists” and “We stand with Kesha, Sony, do you?” on Sony’s New York headquarters.

Though the music industry and the American legal system have attempted to silence Kesha, the support from her fans and colleagues has helped make her voice louder than ever. This is not over.