Legal & Business Articles

Browse our legal and business articles written on all aspects of film, television, radio and multimedia production, visual arts management, and organizational planning and governance. Adobe Arcobat Reader is required to view the articles.

Artists

• Art Interrupted: Legal And Ethical Considerations Of Exhibiting Unfinished Commissioned Works  What do you get when you combine a Swiss artist, a football field-sized museum gallery, and $300,000 worth of materials, including a two-story Cape Cod-style house...
• Cultural Icons Pose Unique Rights Clearance Issues Incorporating pre-existing materials depicting celebrities, landmarks and other readily identifiable cultural objects in a new work can pose unique liability issues beyond the normal...
• Photographic Rights Copyright law can protect your photographs from unauthorized use. Unless they are in the public domain, or the use can be considered "fair use" under U.S. copyright laws, no one can...
• Sales Taxes - A Trap for Unwary Artists and Dealers In the past couple of years, high-profile cases involving the avoidance of sales and use taxes have underscored how important it is that artists, galleries and collectors clearly understand their...
• Six Basic FAQ's About Copyrights A copyright is a legally protected monopoly giving the owner of the copyright the exclusive right to publish, perform, or display the work, and to create derivative works...
• The Name of This Band Is…Trademarked Choosing a name is typically one of the first creative decisions for most bands and an important step in defining a band’s unique identity...
• Visual Music: The Musician and Sync Rights The use of music in film, TV, video and webcast production involves two aspects of copyright law: synchronization rights and performance rights...

Producers

• The Term of Copyright and the Public Domain It is usually necessary, and generally advisable, to obtain permission to use copyrightable...
• Acquiring Story Rights Unless your screenplay is based on either a story of your own creation or on a non-fictional event based on your own research of public documents, one of the first steps you will need to take to...
• Copyright — Is it Better to Own or License? I was recently asked by a producer to review an agreement he had received from the lawyer of an organization he had been working with to prepare a documentary...
• Music Synchronization Rights The use of music in film, TV, video and webcast production involves two aspects of copyright law: synchronization rights and performance rights. Performance rights come into play when a...
• Title and Trademark Clearance It is now common practice for media distributors and insurers to require producers to provide a title and trademark search report and legal opinion in addition to other production deliverables...

Museums

• Museum Intellecual Property Audits  As leaders in the knowledge-based economy, museums are intrinsically involved in the creation and distribution of intellectual property assets...
• The Appropriateness of Appropriating Appropriation Art Thank you for the opportunity to present as part of the Institute of Museum Ethics Graduate Student Conference... 
• The Term of Copyright and the Public Domain It is usually necessary, and generally advisable, to obtain permission to use copyrightable material, unless the material is clearly in the public domain...
• Legal and Ethical Implications of Working with For-Profits In this session we will discuss what steps museums can and should take to make the most of corporate sponsorship opportunities without compromising core institutional values...
• Establishing Licit Markets In Antiquities What is a “licit” market and what does it look like...
• Museum Advocacy and the Law Many museum boards and staff mistakenly believe that they cannot engage in public policy debates and advocacy activities without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status or otherwise...
• Strategies for Successful Corporate Sponsorships For-profit companies have traditionally provided only a small fraction of museum revenues. Increasingly, however, these companies are recognizing the marketing power of being...

Nonprofit

• Mergers & Acquisitions - Nonprofit Style 
• Fundraising Through Friends Groups  This paper will consider the use of affiliated entities — commonly referred to as friends groups, associates, foundations or advisory councils — to provide financial support to nonprofit...
• Increasing Your Charitable Footprint There is a lot of talk these days about reducing our impact on the environment. Faced with difficult economic times, we are also being forced to cut expenses and save money...