Copyrights for Artists and Creative Professionals

 Date: Saturday, April 2, 2011, 9:30a – 12:30p

This informative and interactive workshop will focus on copyrights, providing practical information on various legal topics related to the protection of artwork and the related rights and responsibilities of creative service providers. All artists and creative professionals are encouraged to attend: painters, sculptors, photographers, print makers, designers, filmmakers, cartoonists, animators, craftspeople, writers, publishers, and others.

This workshop will provide a clear and comprehensive overview of what copyrights are and how to protect them. You will learn the most important legal concepts that every creative person should know, including how to register various types of creative work with the Copyright Office, fair use rights, copyright infringement, and the public domain.

Contracts for Artists and Creative Professionals

Date: Saturday, April 9, 2011, 9:30a – 12:30p

Note: Copyright law will not be covered in the Contracts workshop. It is strongly suggested that attendees register for the Copyright class, or otherwise have a thorough understanding of copyright law as a prerequisite for the Contract class.

Nearly every contract relating to the business of selling or licensing art, or providing creative services, necessarily involves federal Copyright law. It is crucial that artists and creative service providers have a firm understanding of agreements that govern their work.

Many artists and creative service providers get into legal trouble due to working without proper contracts. Minimizing legal risk and avoiding customer conflicts are easier once you understand these types of contracts. This workshop will focus on both understanding contract terms in typical art business contracts as well as creating your own personalized, plain-English agreements. A well-crafted, “user friendly” agreement will protect your own legal interests, while setting a professional tone at the start of your working relationship.

Contracts to be discussed will include: Employment agreements (independent contractors, full-time employee and work-for-hire contracts); artwork consignment agreements, creative collaboration deals, model releases, agent agreements, and licensing and commission contracts.

Presenter: Peter Vaughan Shaver, Esq. is a Portland-based arts & entertainment attorney at his firm Sound Advice, LLC. He graduated from the University of Oregon - School of Law (J.D., 1998, Certificate in Intellectual Property) and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His primary areas of legal expertise are intellectual property and general business law, with an emphasis on copyrights, trademarks, entertainment, music law, art law, Internet law, licensing, real estate and wills.