Todd Decker

Todd Decker is an American musicologist. He is the Paul Tietjens Professor of Music at Washington University in St. Louis. Decker edited the journal American Music from 2020 to 2022.

Decker graduated from Fresno Pacific College in 1989, then earned a Master of Music degree in harpsichord from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1991. He completed his PhD at the University of Michigan in 2007 and joined the faculty of the Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis that same year. A jury verdict that found the Katy Perry song did infringe the copyright of Flame's song was overturned on appeal on the March 16, 2020. US District Court judge Christina A Snyder said "It is undisputed in this case" that the ostinato was "not a particularly unique or rare combination."

Music theorist and YouTuber Adam Neely criticized Decker's arguments as "intellectually dishonest", and claimed that Decker had "sold us all out" with his involvement in the case.

Publications Books