RESOURCES LIST
Intellectual Property
Copyright
Trademark
Contracts
Entity Formation
For Profit
Nonprofit
By State
Intellectual Property
"Intellectual property is the oil of the 21st century. Look at the richest men a hundred years ago; they all made their money extracting natural resources or moving them around. All today's richest men have made their money out of intellectual property."—Mark Getty
“It is estimated that by 2007, as much as 90% of the value of the world's top 2000 enterprises will consist of intellectual property"—PriceWaterhouse Coopers, 2003
Copyrights
Online Sources:
- U.S. Copyright Office (The Library of Congress):
http://www.copyright.gov/
- Copyright and Fair Use: Stanford University Libraries:
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/ - The Copyright Crash Course:
http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm - Copyright Management Center, Indiana and Purdue Universities:
http://copyright.iupui.edu/ - Legal Information Institute: Cornell University Legal Information Institute provides a convenient index and search engine for Title 17 of the US Code:
http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sup_01_17.html - Creative Commons:
http://creativecommons.org/ - Recording Artists Project at Harvard Law School. Information on band agreements and recording contracts:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rap/copyright - The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty, "International Protection of Copyright and Neighboring Rights" (1996):
http://www.wipo.int/clea/docs/en/wo/wo033en.htm - European Federation of Intellectual Property:
http://www.efipweb.org
Books:
- The Copyright Handbook, by Stephen Fishman (Nolo Press)
- The Copyright Guide, by Lee Wilson (Allworth Press)
- Electronic Highway Robbery, Mary E. Carter (Peachpit Press)
- Licensing Art & Design, by Caryn R. Leland (Allworth Press): includes information on patents and trademarks.
- The Writers Legal Guide, by Tad Crawford and Tony Lyons (Allworth Press)
Trademarks
Online Sources:
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Basic facts about trademarks:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/doc/basic/ - Legal Information Institute: Cornell University Legal Information Institute provides a convenient index and search engine on Trademark law:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/trademark.html - Bitlaw: A Resource on Technology Law (Trademarks):
http://www.bitlaw.com/trademark/ - Overview of Trademark Law:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm - International Trademark Association:
http://www.inta.org/
Books:
- The Trademark guide, by Lee Wilson
- Trademark: Legal Care for Your Business & Product Name, by Stephen Elias (NOLO)
Contracts
Online Sources:
- Legal Information Institute: Cornell University Legal Information Institute provides a convenient index and search engine on Contract law:
http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/topics/contracts.html - Free Advice: General Contract Law Questions:
http://law.freeadvice.com/general_practice/contract_law/ - Recording Artists Project at Harvard Law School. Information on band agreements and recording contracts:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rap/contract - Graphic Artists Guild Contract Monitor: Information on how to read a contract, understand the contracts you receive, and learn to write your own contracts in order to protect your copyrights:
http://www.gag.org/contracts/contracts.html - California Contract Law:
http://www.west.net/~smith/contracts.htm - California Artists Contract Issues (Recording Industry Association of America): Examines the contractual relationships between record companies and artists: http://www.riaa.com/issues/laborcode/default.asp
- New York Foundation for the Arts Interactive (Simple and concise information on contracts with galleries and collectors):
http://www.nyfa.org/archive_detail_q.asp?type=6&qid=68&fid=6&year=2000&s=Spring - Dance NYC (Contracts for dancers and managers):
http://www.dancenyc.org/dancers.asp?file=contract
Books:
- Business and Legal Forms for Authors & Self-Publishers, by Tad Crawford (Allworth Press): Contains 17 read-to-use-and-adapt forms.
- Business and Legal Forms for Fine Artists, by Tad Crawford (Allworth Press): Contains 17 ready-to-use-and-adapt forms (also available for photography, crafts, illustrators, and graphic designers)
- Contracts for the Film and Television Industry, by Mark Litwak (Silman-James Press)
- Legal Guide for the Visual Artist, by Tad Crawford (Allworth Press)
Entity Formation
For Profit
Online Sources:
- BizFilings - BizFilings is the Internet leader in providing incorporation and related services to business owners, having helped over 100,000 small business owners and entrepreneurs with their formation needs. VLA clients receive discounts ranging from $25-$75 off when they form a corporation, LLC or nonprofit in any state using BizFilings.
www.bizfilings.com/vla - The New York Public Library Small Business Resource Center
http://smallbiz.nypl.org - New York Department of State Corporate and Business Filings
http://www.dos.state.ny.us/corp/corpwww.html - U.S. Small Business Administration (Includes search engine for local SBA offices in CA, NY, DC, SC, DE):
http://www.sba.gov/ - Business.Gov (The Official Business Link to the U.S. Government):
http://www.business.gov - Internal Revenue Service:
http://www.irs.gov/ - National Women’s Business Center:
http://www.womensbusinesscenter.org/ - Small, Minority & Women-Owned Business:
http://www.proposalwriter.com/small.html - Free Management Library: Complete, highly integrated library for nonprofits and for-profits:
http://www.managementhelp.org/ - Business Resource Center, Washington DC. (Business services, applications, and resources):
http://brc.dc.gov/index.asp - District of Columbia, Small Business Development Center:
http://www.dcsbdc.com/ - DC Business Online.com (substantial and useful resources for business research and information in the Washington DC metropolitan area):
http://www.dcpages.com/DC_Business_Online/ - NYC Small Business Resource Center:
http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/smallbiz/sbrc/Pages/index.cfm - I Love NY Online:
http://www.nylovessmallbiz.com/ - NY City Department of Small Business Services:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/home.html - New York Business Development Center:
http://www.nybdc.com/ - NYS Small Business Development Center (The State University of New York):
http://www.nyssbdc.org/ - Small Business Development Center of South Carolina:
http://scsbdc.moore.sc.edu/ - The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce:
http://www.scsbc.org/ - Winthrop.edu (Small Business Development Center, South Carolina):
http://cba.winthrop.edu/sbdc/ - Delaware Small Business Development Center Network:
http://www.delawaresbdc.org/ - Central California Small Business Development Center (Also available for Northern CA and Silicon Valley):
http://www.ccsbdc.org/
Books:
- Legal Guide for Starting & Running a Small Business, by Fred Steingold (NOLO)
- Whoops! I’m in Business: A Crash Course in Business Basics, by Richard Stim and Lisa Guerin (NOLO Press)
- Legal Guide for Starting & Running a Small Business, by Fred S. Steingold (NOLO Press)
- How to Form Your Own NY Corporation (NOLO Press)
Nonprofit
Online Sources:
- U.S. Department of the Interior (Nonprofit Information Gateway):
http://www.doi.gov/non-profit/ - Internal Revenue Service (Tax Information for Charities & Other Non-Profits):
http://www.irs.gov/charities/ - Government Resources for Nonprofit Organizations (Contains articles and resources for non-profits):
http://nonprofit.about.com/od/governmentlinks/ - FirstGov.Gov (U.S. Governments Official Web Portal on Nonprofits):
http://www.firstgov.gov/Business/Nonprofit.shtml - Free Management Library: Complete, highly integrated library for nonprofits and for-profits:
http://www.managementhelp.org/ - Idealist.Org: Action Without Borders (an amazing compilation of non-profit information and resources):
http://www.nonprofits.org/if/idealist/en/Home/default - TONIC: The Online Nonprofit Information Center (Lists their top 20 sites of specific and general interest to nonprofit organizations):
http://www.socialworker.com/nonprofit/nphome.htm - The Nonprofit Times: The Leading Business Publication for Nonprofit Management:
http://www.nptimes.com/ - Delaware Association of Nonprofit Agencies:
www.delawarenonprofit.org - Center for Nonprofit Advancement (Washington DC):
www.nonprofitadvancement.org - Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York:
www.npccny.org - South Carolina Association of Nonprofit Organizations:
www.scanpo.org - California Association of Nonprofits:
www.canonprofits.org - California Management Assistance Program (C-MAP brings you the “Genie”— with information and resources for the nonprofit community):
http://www.genie.org/
Books:
- The Art of Creating Nonprofit Organizations, by Peter Wolk.
- Arts Boards: Creating a New Community Equation (Published by ARTS Action Issues).
- The Buck Starts Here: Enterprises and the Arts (Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts)
- Getting Organized (A comprehensive handbook including a detailed discussion of New York State not-for-profit law). Published by Lawyers Alliance of New York.
- How to Form a Non-Profit Corporation (NOLO Press).
- This Way Up: Legal & Business Essentials for Nonprofits (Published by VLA).
Other Resources by State
California
California Department of Corporations
http://www.corp.ca.gov/
California Arts Council
1300 I Street, Suite 930
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916·322·6555 / 800·201·6201
http://www.cac.ca.gov/?id=1
Delaware
Delaware Department of State
http://www.state.de.us/sos/default.shtml
Delaware Division of the Arts
Mezzanine Gallery
Carvel State Office Bldg
820 N. French St.
Wilmington
302·577·8278
http://www.artsdel.org/default.shtml
Washington, DC
Americans for the Arts
1000 Vermont Ave, NW
6th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
202·371·2830
http://ww3.artsusa.org/
New York
New York Department of State Corporate and Business Filings
http://www.dos.state.ny.us/corp/corpwww.html
New York State Council on the Arts
175 Varick Street
NY, NY 10014
212·627·4455
http://www.nysca.org/
Americans for the Arts
One East 53rd Street
2nd Floor
NY, NY 10022
212·223·2787
http://ww3.artsusa.org/
South Carolina
South Carolina Secretary of State
http://www.scsos.com/corporations.htm business filings
South Carolina Arts Commission
1800 Gervais Street
Columbia, SC 29201
803·734·8696
http://www.state.sc.us/arts/index.html