ghostwriter wants credit

Looking for advice on a legal issue. Here's what happened.

ghostwriter wants credit. I've been dealing with this for about 6 months now and the situation isn't improving.

The contract was signed 23 months ago. I have a copy of the original agreement. The total amount in dispute is approximately $41,000.

Am I overthinking this or is this a real legal issue worth pursuing?

I've dealt with this before.

What worked for me was filing with the appropriate government agency. It took 4-8 months but was worth it.