SURTEX Attendees: Legal Tips for Art Licensing Deals

If it’s May in New York, it’s time for SURTEX. If you are an artist who licenses your art, you should be planning a trip to New York for the self-proclaimed “marketplace for original art and design.” The SURTEX show can be daunting for newcomers due to its size and scope. While your focus now may be primarily on creating art and figuring out how to transport it to New York, here are some last minute legal tips as you enter the art licensing arena.

Legal Problems for Franchisors in Social Media

Social media content moves swiftly and sometimes even the best marketing teams make mistakes. Those mistakes can come back to bite a franchisor, hurting its reputation and even causing legal issues.

What Every Marketer Needs to Know about Trademarks

Every marketer needs to know some basic facts about trademarks to ensure the brand she is building has protection. Here is a short course in trademark law that will allow you to understand some basic concepts.

Fair Use is an Exception to Copyright Law

I am frequently asked by clients if they can make use of someone else’s intellectual property. The myths abound. Here are three: Just because it’s an educational use doesn’t mean it’s a fair use (although it helps). Just because something lives in the public eye doesn’t mean it’s not protected by copyright or other intellectual property laws. (Consider the Hollywood Sign which is protected by trademark law.) Just because you’ve taken less than 10% of a work doesn’t mean you aren’t infringing on the copyright for that work

Copyright owners also operate under misconceptions. The most common mistake is believing that when a third party cannot prove fair use, its use of a copyrighted work will be considered infringing.

Artists’ Intellectual Property Builds Art Licensing Business

Artists focus on their creativity, their technique, and their product. If, however, you are looking to license your art, you should be equally focused on protecting your intellectual property. Your copyrights and trademarks are the lifeblood of your art licensing business and the foundations for all your branding initiatives. In this blog post, I answer some common questions artists ask about copyrights, trademarks, and branding.

The Why’s of Exclusive Art Licensing Arrangements

In any contract negotiation, if the goal is to reach an agreement, both parties should consider the “why” of their positions. Contracts typically address the who, what, when, and where, but they rarely address the “why” in more than a perfunctory manner with a few broad “whereas” clauses. At the same time, when parties are stuck in their negotiations (either before they enter into a contract or during the contract), if they consider the “why” behind their positions, they are more likely to reach consensus.