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Greetings!
October has just flown by here at VLA! The curated trunk show was a big success, showcasing some of NYC's hottest fashion, accessory and apparel designers. The Film, Music, Interactive Legal and Business Bootcamp™ was another highlight of the month. November looks to be just as filled with other exciting events and classes!
We have been gearing up for our Fall Benefit, being held this year on November 2 at Trespa Design Centre, from 6-8 pm. This year we are honoring The Vilcek Foundation and Jackie Battenfield. To order tickets, please view our ticket form.
On November 9, Elena Paul and Anna Akbari will offer the third workshop in the Social & Legal Issues in Fashion Series: The Role of Social Media and Virtual Reality. This class points its lens at the role of new media in shaping and redefining fashion. For more information and to register, please view our registration form.
On November 10, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is generously hosting the Legal and Business Considerations for Musicians: Copyright, Publishing, Recording, and Management. This panel will provide an overview of legal and business considerations for musicians, focusing on copyright, publishing, recording, and management concerns and current industry trends in these areas. For more information and to register, please download the registration form.
On November 17, Elena Paul will offer Legal Issues in Film,a class which will provide an overview of the legal issues and common business arrangements used in film and television projects. For more information, please view the registration form.
Last but not least, don't forget our two best-selling classes: How to Start a Nonprofit Tax-Exempt Organization, and Forming Your For-Profit Arts Business. Both provide a solid introduction to the legal and business issues arising from nonprofit and for-profit start-ups.
A new way to sign up for these classes and more is the All You Can Learn Pass. Artists, arts administrators, lawyers, and students may purchase a 1-year All You Can Learn Pass which will grant them access to as many VLA classes as they would like to attend within one year of purchase. Once you purchase a 1-year Pass, you need only submit a registration form for the class you would like to attend, stating you are a All You Can Learn Pass holder and that's it. You're all set. Take as many classes as you'd like and as many times as you'd like. It's that simple. View our registration page for more information.
Please note that the VLA office will be closed on November 25 and 26 for Thanksgiving. We will re-open on November 29.
We're looking forward to a busy November with many exciting classes. Please view our website for more information. Hope to see you at one of our upcoming events! |
Class: Legal and Business Considerations for Musicians: Copyright, Publishing, Recording, and Management | |
The panel will provide an overview of legal and business considerations for musicians, focusing on copyright, publishing, recording, and management concerns and current industry trends in these areas. This program is appropriate for musicians, songwriters, music producers and managers, and all attorneys and law students.
When: November 10, 2010, 12pm to 3pm
Generously hosted by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Four Times Square, New York NY 10036
1.5 Professional Practice CLE Credits awarded to attorneys (transactional and non-transactional)
12:00pm - 12:30pm: Networking reception, including light lunch, courtesy of Skadden Arps
12:30pm - 2:00pm: Panel discussion and Q&A session with panelists
Panelists:
· Helene Blue, President, Helene Blue Musique Ltd.
· Bob Donnelly, Esq., Associate and Music Law Specialist, Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, P.A.
· Karen Hope, Esq., Senior Vice President, Legal & Business Affairs, RCA/Jive Label Group, Sony Music Entertainment
· Mary E. Rasenberger, Esq., Counsel, Intellectual Property & Technology, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
To Register: please download the registration form. |
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Volunteer Attorney Orientation |
To volunteer at our clinics or take a case from our case list, VLA requires that attorneys attend a short orientation. At the orientation we will discuss important information about VLA's programs, requirements for volunteers and our administrative procedures. All Attorneys must register for and attend a New Attorney Orientation before participating in VLA Clinics or taking on a VLA matter.
Orientations will be held on the following dates and times:
Monday, November 1, 2010 6-7pm
Monday, December 6, 2010 6-7pm
Where:
VLA Auditorium, 1 East 53rd Street, NY, NY 10022
To register for a New Attorney Orientation please fill out and return this New Attorney Orientation Form. You will only be contacted if that orientation is already full. Attorney orientations are conducted by Ben Brandow, Assistant Director of Legal Services. For additional information please contact Ben at 212·319·ARTS (2787), ext. 14 or at bbrandow@vlany.org.
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Class: Nonprofit Incorporation and Tax-Exemption Workshop
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This workshop provides valuable information about starting a nonprofit organization. New York State issues to be covered include articles of incorporation, bylaws, and the first organization meeting. Federal issues include the Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) and corresponding regulations, application for employer identification number, IRS disclosure rules, unrelated business taxable income, charitable contributions, and restrictions on lobbying. VLA requires all applicants seeking Nonprofit Incorporation and Tax Exempt Status services through VLA to attend one of these workshops before a volunteer attorney can be assigned to them.
Classes will be held on the following dates and times:
Tuesday, November 9, 2010 1-4pm*
Tuesday, December 7, 2010 1-4pm
*3.0 Transitional CLE credits (Available to all Attorneys), 2 Professional Practice and 1 Skills.
Where:
VLA Auditorium, 1 East 53rd Street, NY, NY 10022
Registration Fees: (there is a late registration fee of $10 if you register the day of the class)
Arts Professional VLA Member: $75
Arts Professional Non-VLA Member: $100
VLA Legal Professional Member: $150
Legal Professional Non-Member: $200
(Additional individuals from the same start-up organization may register for an additional $25 ea.)
To register, please complete and return this registration form. All registration fees are non-refundable. For more information, please call Joni Todd at 212.319.2787 x10 or email her at jtodd@vlany.org.
This program is funded in part by The Edmond de Rothschild Foundation Nonprofit Assistance Program.
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Class: Forming Your For-Profit Arts Business | |
This workshop provides valuable information about starting an arts-related business. Covered issues also include: For vs. Non-Profit incorporation, fiscal sponsorship, selecting and protecting business names; the legal and tax characteristics of LLCs and publication requirements, partnerships, and type C and S corporations; choice of jurisdiction; financing your business; employees and independent contracts; and insurance.
Classes will be held on the following dates and times:
Thursday, December 9, 2010, 4-6pm
Where:
VLA Auditorium, 1 East 53rd Street, NY, NY 10022
Registration Fees: (there is a late registration fee of $10 if you register the day of the class)
Arts Professional Member: $75
Arts Professional Non-VLA member: $100
VLA Legal Professional Member: $150
VLALegal Professional Non-Member: $175 This class will be taught by Elena M. Paul, Esq., VLA's Executive Director. To register, please complete and return this registration form. All registration fees are non-refundable. For more information, please call Joni Todd at 212.319.2787 x10, or e-mail her at jtodd@vlany.org. |
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Class: Legal Issues in Film |
This class will provide an overview of the legal issues and common business arrangements used in film and television projects. In addition, the class will discuss option agreements for the acquisition of literary properties and distribution agreements, as well as review a comprehensive release for reality based television programming. We will also take a look at legal issues surrounding recent films such as Borat. Reading materials for the class will be emailed one week prior to the class.
Classes will be held on the following dates and times:
Wednesday, November 17, 2010, 4-6:30pm*
*2.5 CLE Credits Available, 1 Professional Practice , 1 Skills and .5 Ethics (Approved for Non-Transitional and Transitional Attorneys)
Where:
VLA Auditorium, 1 East 53rd Street, NY, NY 10022
Registration Fees: (there is a late registration fee of $10 if you register the day of the class)
Full Time Student: $20 (only with valid ID)
Arts Professional VLA Member: $25
Arts Professional Non-VLA member: $35
VLA Legal Professional Member: $130
Legal Professional Non-Member: $150
This class will be taught by Elena M. Paul, Esq., VLA's Executive Director.
To register, please complete this registration form. All registration fees are non-refundable. For more information, please call Joni Todd at 212.319.2787 x10, or e-mail her at jtodd@vlany.org.
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Class: Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts & Friends of the FCI Present: Starting Your Culinary Business |
This workshop provides valuable information about starting culinary businesses, including restaurants, bakeries, bars, and catering companies. This class will cover important issues that every start-up business person needs to know, including: the selection of a business entity; incorporation; financing; branding; licensing (including liquor licenses, cabaret permits, and outdoor seating permits); taxes; and regulatory compliance. Proceeds will benefit the Friends of the French Culinary Institute (FCI). The Friends of the FCI is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable corporation that raises money for scholarships and financial aid to FCI career students based on financial need and ability to complete the program they desire. The organization was founded based on the belief that money should not stand between talented, motivated, deserving students and a first-rate culinary education.
Classes will be held on the following dates and times:
Tuesday, December 7, 2010, 4:30-7pm
Where:
VLA, 1 East 53rd Street, NY, NY 10022 (Auditorium)
Registration Fees: (there is a late registration fee of $10 if you register the day of the class)
Current FCI Student: $25
FCI Alumni: $50
Other Culinary Professionals: $100
Other: $100
This class with be taught by Elena M. Paul, Esq., VLA's Executive Director and Alexis Soterakis, Esq., Senior Associate at the law firm Coran Ober P.C.
To register, please complete this registration form. All registration fees are non-refundable. For more information, please call Joni Todd at 212.319.2787 x10, or e-mail her at jtodd@vlany.org.
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Social & Legal Issues in Fashion Series: The Role of Social Media and Virtual Reality
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This third workshop in a four part series points its lens at the role of new media in shaping and redefining fashion. New media --fashion blogs; street fashion; social media like Twitter and Facebook; virtual worlds like Second Life; online luxury from the Gilt Group --are radically transforming what constitutes fashion and who has access to it. Anna E. Akbari, Ph.D, founder of Closet Catharsis, explores the possibilities and politics of mediated style in the 21st century. Elena M. Paul, Esq., will approach the subject from a legal perspective, including issues related to property ownership in a virtual world as well as copyright, trademark, and right of privacy and publicity issues.
Fees: (there is a late registration fee of $10 if you register day of the class)
Full Time Student (Valid I.D.): $25
Arts Professional VLA Member: $25
Arts Professional Non-VLA member: $35
VLA Legal Professional Member: $130
Legal Professional Non-Member: $150
When: Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 6:00-8:00 p.m. Where: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, 4 TImes Square, New York, NY 10036
This class will be taught by VLA's Executive Director, Elena M. Paul, Esq. and Anna Akbari, Ph.D. To register, please complete this registration form. All registration fees are non-refundable. Please note, you are not registered until full payment is received. You will receive a confirmation email approximately one week prior to the class. For more information, please call Joni Todd at 212.319.2787 x10. |
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VLA Member Services |
Law Firm and Corporate Members:
VLA has developed two new opportunities for attorneys and other legal professionals, that are now available ā la carte or as part of the benefits of a Corporate/Law Firm Membership at the Patron Level.
Artist, Arts Organization, and Legal Professional Members:
VLA has also just developed an additional training opportunity for attorneys and arts professionals looking to make a career transition from legal practice to nonprofit careers.
For more information on these new programs and on becoming a law firm or corporate member, please click here. |
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VLA has seen an increase in demand for pro bono legal services, in-house consultations, legal clinics, and educational programming, and we expect 2010 to be even more demanding. Would you like to support more VLA legal services and educational programming?
In 2010, your support will make possible:
- More legal services to low-income artists
- More legal services to arts nonprofit organizations
- More educational programming
- More scholarship programs
- More outreach programming
- Maintaining lower fees for legal services and educational programming
- More discounts on legal books for artists
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Jim Hodges, What Becomes the Sky Roberto, 2009 |
What Becomes the Sky Roberto, 2009  | VLA is very pleased to announce the sale of a limited edition print by noted American artist Jim Hodges. Born in 1957 in Washington State, Hodges creates pieces using a variety of materials with the meticulous precision of collage work, sewing, assembling and cut-out. The end results are works that are both minimal and rich. A retrospective of his work was held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris late last year. His work is also included in the collections of such institutions as The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art, New York and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
Mr. Hodges has generously donated these unframed limited edition prints to VLA.
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About Us
Since 1969, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts has been the leading provider of pro bono legal services and mediation, as well as educational programs, publications, and advocacy to the arts community in the New York area and beyond. As the first arts-related legal aid organization, VLA is the model for similar organizations around the world.
VLA is supported in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and through generous gifts from law firms, corporations, foundations and individuals.
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
1 East 53rd Street, 6th floor
New York, New York 10022
212.319.ARTS (2787)
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Our Supporters
VLA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal service organization supported in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and through generous gifts from corporations, foundations and individuals. View a full list of foundation and government supporters here; to view a full list of law firm and corporate supporters, click here. |
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Upcoming CLE Class in November
The following VLA classes are CLE approved
Legal and Business Considerations for Musicians: Copyright, Publishing, Recording, and Management
1.5 Professional Practice CLE Credits awarded to attorneys (transactional and non-transactional
2.5 CLE Credits, 1 Professional Practice, 1 Skills and .5 Ethics (Approved for Non-Transitional and Transitional Attorneys)
Social & Legal Issues in Fashion Series: The Role of Social Media and Virtual Reality 2.0 CLE Credits, 1 Professional Practice and 1 Skills, (Approved for Non-Transitional and Transitional Attorneys) |
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VLA Success Story of the Month
In Their Own Words: Ullamaya Ma
I want to thank Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts for helping me to find lawyers to defend my rights in a very complex and difficult case.
I am an artist of several disciplines and I came to you nine months ago to ask for help in my difficult legal situation. I had talked to more than a dozen law firms and hired two, without any success, before I came to you.
Last year, I had already given up any hope for justice. I am still in awe, that you not only found me a law firm to take my case pro bono, but you got me the law firm which has been recently chosen to be on of the best intellectual firm in the USA, Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto.
After extensive investigations, I am now working with two lawyers to restore my rights in my trademark, which is my name, and a whole list of injustices against me.
I wish I had been aware of your many workshops, when I struggled as a young designer/ artist and entrepreneur in New York. And of course, there are several, which I hope to be able to attend soon.
Thanks again for your great work.
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Financial Aid Policy Guidelines for CLE Classes
To apply for a full or partial scholarship, applicants must submit proof of unemployment or their most recent tax return and a completed registration form for that class via mail to VLA 1 E. 53rd St., 6th Floor attn: Ben Brandow or via fax at 212.752.6575.
VLA applies the following guidelines:
Unemployed: 75% scholarship
Income up to $35,000: 50% scholarship
Income $35,000 to $50,000: 25% scholarship
Income over $50,000: No Discount | |
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| Ways to Get Involved and Training for Attorneys |
If you're an attorney and would like to get involved with VLA, please click here for more information on our legal services, CLE classes, mediation training, and new attorney orientation programming. |
| Legal Services | |
VLA's Legal Services program is the central focus of our activities and resources. The program includes a wide range of services including: the Art Law Line, a legal hotline; the VLA Legal Clinic for VLA members; in-house appointments with VLA staff attorneys; and pro bono placements for low-income artists and nonprofit arts organizations with one of over 1,200 volunteer attorneys.
If you are a practicing attorney, you may view the current cases available for pro bono placement by clicking here.
For more information on any of our programs please call or Ben Brandow at 212·319·ARTS (2787), ext.14
You may also call our Art Law Line at 212.319.2787 x1, Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
| Education |
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Our Department of Education offers a wide variety of discipline-specific and general educational programs, both at its office and privately on location for law firms and art, cultural and service organizations. VLA is also certified by the New York State Bar Continuing Legal Education Board as an accredited provider of Continuing Legal Education courses and programs. Accordingly, VLA provides CLE classes at its office, and privately for law firms at their offices. VLA also custom designs courses, including CLE classes, upon request.
For more information on any of our programs please call Sergio Muņoz Sarmiento at 212·319·ARTS (2787), ext.13. |
| VLA Library and Bookstore | |
VLA has a small but in-depth book library containing a wealth of materials and resources for artists, arts organizations, and legal professionals. Our books and materials cover diverse areas such as nonprofits, fiscal sponsorships, visual art, music, theater, dance, writing, film, internet, and digital media, all in relation to intellectual property, contracts, licensing, legal entities, free speech, employment law, and grant writing. Access to VLA's library is free and is open to the public Monday through Friday, 12 to 6pm.
Along with providing individuals and organizations with access to the VLA's Library, VLA makes available a wide variety of books for all arts disciplines and organizations. For a list of our publications and books available for sale, please visit our list. For book prices and shipping fees, please contact VLA at our Art Law Line at 212.319.2787, x1. |
| VLA Calendar |
Keep up with our events, classes, workshops, and legal clinics through our calendar. |
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