In the early 1950s, the answer to the question “Who invented the equation E=mc^2?" which was thought to be established beyond any doubt, was seriously contested, when in 1952, Herbert Ives asserted that it was Planck and not Einstein who actually first proved the equivalence of mass and energy. After a brief period of calm, the interest in the question was revived in late 1970s and early 1980s, this time with most of the articles written on the topic being in support of Einstein. The dispute persists to this day. In this paper, using both historical facts and basic laws of logic as it applies to proofs, I will argue that perhaps this is a false dichotomy or an artificial controversy. It was, in my opinion, the accumulation of the shared knowledge rather than one luminary scientist that led to the formulation of a useful mass-energy relationship.