Maine VLA Blog

In 1990, Congress enacted the Visual Artist’s Rights Act (VARA), a piece of legislation that created certain rights for artists independent of real property or copyright ownership. Having roots in nineteenth-century French law, moral rights originated with the idea that an artwork is an extension of the artist’s identity, and the artist has the right to intervene if any manipulation of the work adversely affected his or her reputation. These rights are quite strong in France and other civil law countries, because they are based on personality law, not property law, as in the United States. Here, moral rights are weaker, in part because they doctrinally conflict with the American understanding of property. (For example, try telling the average person that he is the sole owner of the painting, but that he couldn’t throw it out if it didn’t fit into his new decorating scheme.)

VARA rights are explained in 17 United States Code § 106A. These rights are granted to the “author of a work of visual art” alone and are extinguished at the end of the calendar year of the artist’s death. VARA protects the artist’s right of attribution. In other words, the artist can “claim authorship” of a work he created or “prevent the use of his or her name” on any work he or she did not create. If the work was modified or distorted, the artist has the right to remove his or her name if not doing so would cause harm to his or her reputation. The artist can also prevent distortion under the same conditions. Finally, if the work is of “recognized stature”, the artist has the ability to prevent its destruction. A major limitation of VARA is that it only protects “works of visual art”, which is defined in the statute.

So, if you are an artist, know that you still have rights after ownership. And if you are a collector, know that all of these rights are waivable, if you can get the artist to forfeit them in writing.

For a quick look at VARA over the years, check out this article.

Attention attorneys!  Wednesday night’s Music Rights Workshop is now an approved CLE course.  Admission is FREE for those who would like to attend and receive 1.5 CLE credits.  Don’t miss what will be an awesome event!  This Wednesday night, 6:30-8:30, at the Space Gallery.  To learn more, go here: http://bit.ly/gPLmNT

We are now only two weeks away from our much anticipated Music Rights Workshop!  The workshop will be held on June 29th, at 6:30 pm at the Space Gallery, and will be lead by Boston-based music attorney Valerie Lovely.  The workshop will cover in great depth a plethora of issues concerning music rights.  Be sure to not miss what will be a most awesome event!

To purchase tickets, and to learn more about the event, go here: http://bit.ly/gPLmNT

If you simply cannot wait until June 29th to learn more about music rights, the following is a morsel of information intended to wet your whistle.

What are royalties?  Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party (the licensee) to another (the licensor) for the ongoing use of an asset.

How do royalties relate to music?  There are four types of royalties commonly found in music.

Mechanical Royalties- the concept originated from the sale of piano rolls, but now largely is largely connected to the sale of CD's, digital downloads, tape recordings, DVD's, etc.

Performance Royalties- related to the performance of a song or composition, whether live, recorded, or broadcast (including the web).

Print Rights- largely concerned with sheet music.

Synch Royalties- concerned with the use or adaptation of music in movies, television, advertisements, etc.

If you are involved in the performing arts, and would like to learn how royalties concern you, as well as other issues that involve music rights, please attend our June 29th Music Rights Workshop.

Bridget Cullen will be the VLA volunteer this month for First Friday ArtWalk office hours. Bridget is an intern working at the Institute for Financial Literacy.  She has volunteered weekly for the VLA for a couple of months.   Bridget has spent several sessions creating a new, efficent database for cases.   We are very excited to have her aboard, and she will be in the office at 511 Cogress St. inside Constellation Gallery from 5-7pm on Friday June 3rd. 

With the tax deadline here (April 18th is the deadline this year, see why here) a post about taxes seemed in order...

As an artist, one question you may have is whether you should charge sales tax for your work and what kind of registration is required. In Maine, businesses (be you a Sole Proprietorship, LLC, Corporation etc...) that buy and sell products are subject to sales tax. This means that whether you are selling art on the street or in a gallery, it is important to assess what your tax burden on those sales may be. Below are some links to websites that can provide you with more information.

The first is: http://www.maine.gov/online/businessanswers/howdoi/howdoi-9.html. This website provides you with a quick overview of when you need a Maine Tax ID number. The link on that page takes you to the Maine Revenue Service website which has the necessary applications for obtaining a Tax ID number.

On the Federal side of things, the IRS website provides information about whether you need a Federal Tax ID number (also known as an Employer Identification Number or "EIN"): http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98350,00.html. Depending on your situation, you may or may not have to obtain one of these as well. There is a link on that page to a list of questions which can help you to decide whether you need a Federal Tax ID.

A good overview why it is important for artists to think about sales tax is provided in the article:

SALES TAXES — A TRAP FOR UNWARY ARTISTS AND DEALERS
By Walter G. Lehmann
Lehmann Strobel PLC

The link to it is here

Due to this wonderful April Fools storm, we will postpone the VLA office hours for tonight.

Please join us next month- same time, same place.

Here is more info.