Category: Office Practices

Legal Matters for Artists - ignorance is no defence

21/1/2019

"Ignorance is no defence" is a very basic legal principle and an age old 'law'.

It basically means that you cannot use your ignorance of the law as an excuse for why you ignored it or flouted it. It also prevents people from avoiding prosecution for things they have done wrong.

As an artist you can neither ignore the law nor try to excuse things you have done by saying you didn't know.

If you go into business, it's a basic principle that you must find out all the things you "need to know" to conduct your business affairs properly,

Legal matters for artists

Legal and business considerations exists from the moment an artist conceives a work
Tad Crawford

I'm no lawyer - and therefore not an expert. However I do know enough to be periodically horrified when I realise the ignorance of some artists about the law that relates to their various activities.

Ignorance may be bliss - but it is very definitely no defence and some artists leave themselves open to various liabilities as a result!

I've created a NEW page, called Legal Matters for Artists, which provides a brief summary of matters which can have legal consequences for artists and what you "need to know" about. You can find it

in the Office Practices section
of the PRACTICE Section
of my website Art Business Info for Artists

In essence it's a combination of a checklist of legal issues relevant to artists PLUS a compendium of other legal resources

It's also relevant to those arts and artists' organisations which conduct activities covered by law relating to art business.

Headline matters

Various laws are relevant to artists - but do you know what these are?

The "headlines" of legal matters cover the following. Under each heading I highlight and suggest the type of issues you may well "need to know" about or be aware of.

Artists Rights
Art Sales - Auctions, Galleries and Dealers
Artist Contracts with Galleries and Dealers
Online Sales: art / commissions / tuition
Art Sales / Tuition: At Home / Open Studios
Art Insurance and Safeguarding
Moving and Shipping Art - including over international borders
Money and Art - and Tax
Art Estates and Legacies
Personal data collection and data protection

Each of these provides links to other pages on my website which provide some of the answers - or links to places which can.

Pages are in development for the following sections - although legal issues which need to be considered are highlighted on the Legal Matters page.

Art Competitions and Open Exhibitions
Patrons and Commissions
Artist as Author / Publisher
Artist as employer / employee.

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Learning more about art

It also contains links to:

various sources of expertise and commentary on art law
various articles and online sites providing information about art law
a book about art law
lawyers specialising in art - including pro bono and fixed price lawyers
courses providing professional development for museum and gallery professionals
tuition in law relevant to art - including a Distance Learning Diploma in Art Law

If anybody can think of anything I've omitted please leave a comment below or contact me

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a lawyer. Nor do I provide professional advice on legal matters. If you need legal advice you need to consult a professionally qualified lawyer. Given the size and scope of this site I also do NOT warrant that:

any information is complete and/or professional
all links lead to the most current and up to date information.

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Data Protection and GDPR for Artists and Art Organisations

26/3/2018

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On the 25th May 2018 - in less than 60 days - The General Data Protection Regulation comes into effect. It affects everyone and every organisation having data transactions with individuals who live/work in the European Union.

This blog post is about resources I've been trying to pull together about GDPR - for artists and art organisations - societies, charities, schools, galleries etc.

This means it INCLUDES:

ART SUPPLIERS - all those artists / art organisations - wherever they are located - aiming to market art and art-related services to people located in the EU
SUPPLIES FOR ARTISTS - all those organisations - wherever they are located - aiming to market their goods and services (eg art materials, websites) to artists and art organisations located in the EU.

NEW PAGE Today I'm launching my new resource page about General Data Protection Regulation for Artists and Art Organisations. - which is very much a work in progress. You can find it in the Office Practices section of the website. The art organisations include: art societies, art galleries, art dealers and art schools.

Previously, I've written two long blog posts on Making A Mark:

The NEW PAGE includes links to useful resources not included in the blog post and builds upon what I've previously written. I'm still looking and still finding new resources which might be helpful - but you may have to do a lot of reading.

RECOMMENDATION: Besides the links to the publications and resources produced by the Information Commission (first section), the section I'd suggest people take a look at is that relating to Issues for Art Organisations. It includes a very useful document written by The Arts Society providing guidance to its branch societies.

I'm also hoping to develop a section for "Artists as Sole Traders".

The one thing I have discovered is that more and more information is being published the closer we get to 25th May - and it's likely that a lot more will emerge as issues are tested in the courts thereafter.

Bottom line - this is a live issue for anybody who is creating transactions involving the personal data of anybody living in the EU.

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DISCLAIMER: I am NOT an expert on this topic - even if I know more than you! Like you I'm just trying to work my way through the maze of online information about GDPR. You are also not my client and I do not know your individual circumstances - meaning I have no liability to you in any circumstances should you choose to rely on any of the materials on this blog or website - although whatever is published by the ICO should be more authoritative than most!

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NEW section about being an artist - under development

22/8/2017

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I'm currently developing a new section on Art Business Information for Artists to make room for all the tips I've developed and collected about

being an artist and
how to be a successful artist!

STEP UP

The name keeps changing but it's essentially about stepping up to the reality of what it takes to become a successful artist. It's about:

habits
practices for real life
learning - and continued professional development.

Below are a sample of some of the topics it will cover
plus two topics I've recently posted about on Making A Mark.

HABITS

This is essentially about being an artist and

what are the things which make an artist different,
what are the challenges they will face,
what are the habits they need to develop if they want to be successful

Topics will include

Starting out as an Artist - moving on from being an amateur to becoming a professional artist
Being a Professional Artist - this will include coverage of the nature of an artist's career. This section will include a page devoted to examples of the working lives of professional artists. Yesterday I wrote about A Portfolio Career as an Artist
Teach Art - this might be a seperate section, but will cover the various ways you can teach art and what the requirements are if you do.

Step Up #2

REAL LIFE

This is about real life and professional business practices for artists.
Art is not all about making art. There's a lot of routine which you need to make time for and which need to be followed if you aren't going to be wasting your time and living and working and storing your art in a complete mess. Plus professional practices which can make a difference between being a successful artist and an "also ran".

Topics will include:

Studio Practices - what needs to happen to if you want to e.g. how to be safe in your studio; how to store your art; how to inventory your art
Office Practices - things that need to be done to keep on top of the paperwork - and the art! Examples include: How to back up your images; how to comply with legislation relating to data protection - see below.
Time management - how to differentiate between the important and the urgent
I'll also be adding in book-keeping, budgeting and business planning into the Money & Tax section

I've just written a blog post on Making A Mark about Is your art organisation or business ready for GDPR - the replacement of the Data Protection Act? - which is about the new mandatory legislation which will be introduced and become effective on 25th May 2018. It applies to all artists maintaining a contacts database for marketing and/or sales.

LEARNING & Continued Professional Development

Topics will include

The Best Business Books for Artists
Art Schools in the UK - for those wanting to develop further by taking a degree in fine art at undergraduate or postgraduate level
Art Business Courses Online - for those wanting to develop their knowledge, skills and competences relating to the business of art. I'll be giving particular emphasis to those where I've had positive feedback
Mentoring - opportunities to consult with me in relation to different aspects of your development or conundrums to face.

"I want to thank you hugely for such a very useful and shrewd report and for all the time and thought you have put in. I agree with virtually every point you make and recognise the need to address a lot of the issues"
a recent client

Let me know your priorities

I'm always very interested to hear about people's priorities as to things they want to know about. So let me know what you think. You can

leave a comment on this blog post
or, if you'd prefer to be more private write to me via the feedback form on my Contact Page.

Step Up #1 Photo by Daniel von Appen on Unsplash
Step Up #2 Photo by Mikito Tateisi on Unsplash

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Art Business Info: NEWS

Legal Matters for Artists - ignorance is no defence

Legal matters for artists

Headline matters

Learning more about art

Data Protection and GDPR for Artists and Art Organisations

NEW section about being an artist - under development

STEP UP

HABITS

REAL LIFE

LEARNING & Continued Professional Development

Let me know your priorities

Art Business Info. News for Artists

Visitors so far

Author

Archives

Categories

Art Business Info: NEWS

Legal Matters for Artists - ignorance is no defence

Legal matters for artists​

Headline matters

Learning more about art

Data Protection and GDPR for Artists and Art Organisations

NEW section about being an artist - under development

STEP UP

HABITS

REAL LIFE

LEARNING & Continued Professional Development

Let me know your priorities​

Art Business Info. News for Artists

Visitors so far

Author

Archives

Categories

Legal matters for artists

Let me know your priorities