Legal Guide for the Visual Artist

by CRAWFORD,TAD

• ISBN13: 9781581157420
• ISBN10: 1581157428
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2010-09-17
• Publisher: SIMON & SCHUSTER

Summary

This classic guide has been completely revised and updated to provide an in-depth view of the legal issues facing visual artists today and practical legal guidance for any visual artist involved with creative work. Among the many new topics covered in this comprehensive guide are: detailed discussion of the developments in copyright; an in-depth explanation of changes in laws protecting artists in artist-gallery relationships; a model contract for Web site design; and much more. The book also covers copyrights, moral rights, contracts, licensing, sales, special risks and protections for art and artists, book publishing, video and multimedia works, leases, taxation, estate planning, museums, collecting, grants, and how to find the best professional advisors and attorneys.

Author Biography

Tad Crawford grew up in the artists' colony of Woodstock, New York. He is the author of many nonfiction books and his writing has appeared in venues such as Art in America, the Café Irreal, Confrontation, Communication Arts, Family Circle, Glamour, Guernica, the Nation, and Writer's Digest. The founder and publisher of Allworth Press, he lives in New York City.

Excerpts

This is the fifth edition of Legal Guide for the Visual Artist. The book has a broad scope and uses "visual artist" to include cartoonists, craftspeople, graphic designers, illustrators, painters, photographers, printmakers, sculptors, and textile designers. All of the people in these categories are artists, and all need and will benefit from the information offered in this book.

What I find remarkable in looking back to 1977 when I wrote the first edition of Legal Guide is how legal protections have expanded for artists and how technology has changed the way in which information, including the information contained in art, can be processed and disseminated to the public. The text will elaborate these themes, but certainly the passage of the Visual Artists Rights Act and the rapid evolution of digital technologies are dramatic examples of the legal and technological changes affecting artists.

Art law, although drawn from many areas of the law, has developed more and more into a distinct entity over the last fifty years. Legal Guide for the Visual Artist seeks to introduce artists to the legal issues of both art in commerce and artists' rights. It deals with each of the sequence of issues that begin as soon as the artist contemplates creating a work of art, including copyright, contracts of all types, taxes, estate planning, and public support for artists.

Action in the legal sphere may appear to be an anomaly for the artist involved with creative work. Perhaps, as Carl Andre suggests, the artist should seek to withdraw from the art world and the dangers of success. Yet the artist seeking to earn his or her living from an art career must focus on art as commerce, what Andy
Warhol calls being "a business artist."

All artists, whether they agree with Carl Andre or Andy Warhol, must be capable of resolving business and legal issues. In this respect, a greater familiarity with art law and other sources of support will help the artist. Artists should never feel intimidated, helpless, or victimized. Legal and business considerations exist from the moment an artist conceives a work or receives an assignment. While no handbook can solve the unique problems of each artist, the artist's increased awareness of the general legal issues pertaining to art will aid in avoiding risks and gaining benefits that might otherwise pass unnoticed.

Artists' Groups
Artists' groups provide a valuable support network. There are too many of these groups across the country to mention each by name, but those with a special interest in artists' rights, including legal and business issues, are listed in the Appendix on pages 251-257.

Many of the groups offer newsletters and other information services of value to their members.
A few provide legal services, while others lobby for legislation favorable to artists. Health, life, and even automobile insurance are frequently offered at group rates. Some of the groups promote art by sponsoring shows, publishing books, or maintaining slide registries of art.

Within the boundaries of the antitrust laws, certain groups publish surveys to help members determine fair pricing practices. A number of the groups have codes of ethics, which dictate standards for both business and art practices in the profession.

Joining an artists' group can be an important step for an artist in terms of protecting rights and advancing his or her professional prestige.

Lawyers for the Arts
The search for a lawyer is often time-consuming and disheartening. Not only are fees high, but many lawyers are not knowledgeable about the issues encountered by artists. Standard techniques for finding a lawyer include asking a friend who consulted a lawyer for a similar problem, calling a local bar association's referral service, or going to a legal clinic. All of these approaches have merits, but today the artist may be able to locate a knowledgeable lawyer with far greater preci