This classic guide for artists is completely revised and updated to provide an in-depth view of the legal issues facing the visual artist today and provides practical legal guidance for any visual artist involved with creative work. Among the many new topics covered in this comprehensive guide are: detailed coverage of the myriad developments in copyright (including online copyright registration procedures and use of art on the Internet); changes in laws protecting artists in artist-gallery relationships are explained in depth; scope of First Amendment protections for graffiti art and the sale of art in public spaces; detailed as well as new cases dealing with art and privacy; and 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 advisers and attorneys. In addition, the book suggests basic strategies for negotiation, gives information to help with further action, contains many sample legal forms and contracts, and shows how to locate artists' groups and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts organizations.
"This is an indispensable handbook for the visual art community."--(Starred review) Library Journal "Legal Guide for the Visual Artist by Tad Crawford arms artists with a broad general knowledge of most legal issues they’re likely to face, and includes raft of legal forms that should address many foreseeable legal needs. Starting with chapters on traditional intellectual property—copyright, trademarks, trade dress, and some patents—Crawford delves into more esoteric aspect of intellectual property such as moral rights and the relatively recent Visual Artists Rights Act ("VARA"). The author balances these more personal and insightful historical portions with current issues facing the modern artist, such as the increasing likelihood of an artist being both artist and producer and the pitfalls that come with this dual role. Multimedia and the breadth of what that term means is also touched upon in the book. Legal Guide for the Visual Artist deserves a place in your library if you do any type of artistic work at all."—Logan Lo, Esq., The New York Journal of Books
About the Author
Tad Crawford, Publisher for Allworth Press in New York City, graduated from Columbia Law School, clerked on New York State’s highest court, and served as general counsel for the Graphic Artists Guild when he practiced as an attorney. He originated the course titled “Law and the Visual Artist” at the School of Visual Arts and wrote Legal Guide for the Visual Artist (now in its fifth edition) to serve as the text. He is the author or coauthor of more than a dozen books, including Starting Your Career as a Freelance Photographer, The Graphic Design Business Book, Business and Legal Forms for Fine Artists, and Business and Legal Forms for Graphic Designers. He lives in New York City.
Allworth Press publisher and founder Tad Crawford is an author, attorney, and artists' rights advocate.
Born in New York City, Crawford grew up in the artists colony of Woodstock, New York. Interested in writing both fiction and nonfiction, he majored in economics at Tufts College and graduated from Columbia Law School in February 1971. ("That explains the unusual amalgam of my activities," Crawford says. "A lot of legal skills are crucial for helping the artist and for running a publishing company. Of course, writing is an excellent background for publishing. So it's come together very well.")
Crawford clerked for a judge of the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, then went to work for a small general law firm in New York City while writing and teaching writing and literature at the School of Visual Arts. Until he took the teaching assignment at the School of Visual Arts and learned of the need for materials to help artists understand their rights, he had not envisioned being an advocate of artists' rights.
"I found nothing in print to help artists deal with such legal matters as copyrights, contracts, income taxes, the 'hobby loss' problem, estate planning, or even how to get grants," recalls Crawford. And so, responding to what he saw as "an extreme need," he wrote a book dealing with those and other relevant issues, titling it Legal Guide for the Visual Artist and using it as a text for the "Law and the Visual Artist" course that he taught at the School of Visual Arts. Published in 1977, Legal Guide for the Visual Artist is now in its fourth edition and has one hundred thousand copies in print.
He followed this with The Writer's Legal Guide in 1978 (which has been updated and reissued with The Authors Guild as co-publisher and Kay Murray, the General Counsel for the Authors Guild, as co-author). With Arie Kopelman he wrote Selling Your Photography in 1980 and Selling Your Graphic Design and Illustration in 1981. At the same time Crawford served as Chairman of the Board for the Foundation for the Community of Artists, legislative counsel for the Copyright Justice Coalition (which had many arts groups as members), and general counsel for the Graphic Artists Guild. In 1982 Crawford was asked to help publish books for some of the organizations that he had represented as an attorney. In response, he became publisher of Madison Square Press, which issued annuals for such artists'organizations as the Society of Illustrators, the Society of Publication Designers, the Art Directors Club of New York, and the Art Directors Club of Los Angeles.
In 1988 he decided to strike out in a new direction, "to create a press that would offer the kind of information that was more like what I had taught, written about, and lobbied for." Crawford saw the need for a publishing company that would provide practical information to creative professionals, such as artists, photographers, designers, and authors. He knew first hand the issues faced every day by such creative people and could envision a spectrum of books to help them survive and prosper professionally.
In the Fall of 1989, Crawford published Allworth Press's first book, a revised edition of his classic Legal Guide for the Visual Artist. Ten more titles followed in 1990, offering information about marketing, promotion, pricing, copyright, contracts, health and safety, and much more. The first edition of Business and Legal Forms for Photographers was published in 1991. "The information in these books,"Crawford says, "can make all the difference in terms of success and prosperity." Today Allworth Press has a backlist of more than 250 books, publishes 12-15 books annually, and employs a staff of six very talented people.
Crawford's last involvement as an active lobbyist was in 1986, and he's given up active practice of the law to devote his energies to his publishing and his writing. The full list of books that he has authored follows:
AIGA Professional Practices in Graphic Design (editor) The Artist-Gallery Partnership (with Susan Mellon) Business and Legal Forms for Crafts Business and Legal Forms for Fine Artists Business and Legal Forms for Graphic Designers (with Eva Doman Bruck) Business and Legal Forms for Illustrators Business and Legal Forms for Interior Designers (with Eva Doman Bruck) Business and Legal Forms for Industrial Designers (with Eva Doman Bruck and Carl W. Battle) Business and Legal Forms for Photographers Legal Guide for the Visual Artist The Money Mentor The Secret Life of Money Selling Your Photography (with Arie Kopelman) Selling Your Graphic Design and Illustration (with Arie Kopelman) Starting Your Career as a Freelance Photographer The Writer's Legal Guide (with Kay Murray)
This review is from: Legal Guide for the Visual Artist (Fifth Edition) (Paperback)
Legal Guide for the visual Artist by Tad Crawford is the newly revised version of his book which has been a trusted help for artists for decades. He gives great legal tips for the artist about rights, copyright, avoiding disputes, privacy releases, fair use, work for hire,and leases and much more. He has excellent guidance in how to keep track of business expenses for deductions to save taxes. He also tells how to access Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts if you can't afford to hire a lawyer. This is a MUST for all types of visual artists, for print , galleries, or online
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This review is from: Legal Guide for the Visual Artist (Fifth Edition) (Paperback)
Attorney Tad Crawford presents Legal Guide for the Visual Artist, a must-have reference and resource for all types of professional visual artists, including photographers, painters, printmakers, designers, sculptors, illustrators, cartoonists, web designers, and more. Now in its fifth updated edition, Legal Guide for the Visual Artist covers what American law has to say about copyright, sales/commissions/rentals of original art, taxes, grants and public support available for the arts, and much more. Written in plain terms to be accessible to artists of all backgrounds, Legal Guide for the Visual Artist is invaluable as a preventative measure for staying on the right side of the law, and also as an excellent brush-up resource to consult prior to visiting an attorney who charges tremendous fees per hour. Highly recommended.
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This review is from: Legal Guide for the Visual Artist (Fifth Edition) (Paperback)
This is a very useful book for a budding artist who is in the process of beginning a career and in need of contract examples for upcoming sales of sculpture and other work...
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