The name is formed from the middle names of the founders: Michael and Dale.

Robin Roberts on the TV-47 News Set

MichaelDale Publishing

Though a subsidiary of California Fly Technologies, MichaelDale pre-dates the formation of the on-line company by almost 20 years. Originally created as a holding company for musical and other creative copyrights, MichaelDale Music moved into educational publishing in 1984 and became MichaelDale Publishing. The music division, MichaelDale Music, still remains, though all copyrights are assigned to MichaelDale Publishing.