Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts is happy to announce two great new events in the new year — please join us for either, or both!

One-Day Negotiation Training: Tuesday, January 27th; please click here to register

Litigation Workshop: Thursday, January 29th

Details:

One-Day Negotiation Training
When: Tuesday, January 27, 2009: 10am — 6pm
Where: Manhattan Location TBA.
Who: For both artists and attorneys.
CLE: YES, CLE credit is being offered for this event. Mostly Areas of Professional Practice credits and Skills credits, plus 1 Ethics credit. This program qualifies as transitional for newly admitted attorneys.
Cost:
– Artists: $100 with registration by January 9th; $150 after January 9th
– Attorneys: $275 with registration by January 9th; $325 after January 9th
Note: The completion of this program does NOT qualify you to be a volunteer through MediateArt, VLA’s mediation, contract negotiation, and negotiation counseling department. Serving as a MediateArt volunteer requires the completion of our MediateArt Training Program, to be offered later in 2009.

Program Description: A one-day overview of basic and more advanced negotiation skills, including contract negotiation and deal mediation (deal memo mediation). This is a good overview of negotiation for anyone, regardless of area of discipline, although there will be some focus on arts and entertainment issues in particular.

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Litigation Workshop: “The Nuts and Bolts of Entertainment Law Litigation”
Co-sponsored by EASL, the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law section of the New York State Bar Association
When: Thursday, January 29, 2009: 6pm — 8pm
Where: VLA’s Lobby Auditorium; 1 East 53rd Street (northeast corner of 53rd & 5th).
Who: For both artists and attorneys, but primarily geared towards artists.
CLE: NO, CLE credit is not being offered for this event.
Cost: $25 for artists; $50 for attorneys

Program Description: This two-hour program will cover “the nuts and bolts of entertainment law litigation,” including how to draft and reply to cease and desist letters, and what happens if you ignore one; how to initiate a lawsuit and how to reply to one; how to find a lawyer if you want to sue someone or need to defend a lawsuit; and what happens once litigation has been initiated, including how to analyze when and whether to settle.

Since 1969, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts has been the leading provider of pro bono legal services, mediation services, educational programs and publications, and advocacy to the arts community in New York. The first arts-related legal aid organization, VLA is the model for similar organizations around the world. For more information about Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, please see www.vlany.org.

Graphic Artist Guild Teleclass.

Last call for our next teleclass: How Not to get Cheated Out of All Your Hard Work with Mark Saku and Cameron Collins. It takes place on Thursday, January 29, 2009 from 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EST.

Graphic Design has become a viable business opportunity for countless talented artists. Many times, however, the agreements that control the creation and use of artwork can be one-sided and inequitable. Knowledge of how to negotiate agreements, and how to protect your intellectual property, is essential to successfully translating your art into long-term
financial stability.

Cameron J. Collins, Esq. and Mark B. Saku, Esq. will help explain the intricacies and fine-print associated with work-for-hire agreements and intellectual property licensing. Both attorneys represent a variety of artists involved with the licensing and protection of their intellectual property. Cameron and Mark each have substantial experience negotiating intellectual
property agreements and can relay the traditional ways in which artists are now protecting and their works.

The fee is $15 for members and $25 for non-members. When you register you will be sent information about how to dial in, as well as any applicable handouts from our speakers. And, as a special bonus, all registrants will receive an audio file of the class.

For those unable to attend and want to learn what was covered, classes will be available as downloadable audio files for the same price. More information on these files will be posted on the Guild’s web site as the files become available.

PDF of files attached here.For more information about our teleclass series please contact the Guild office at 212.791.3400 x10, or email sales@gag.org.

Don’t forget, your paid registration includes a copy of the audio file, so register today to secure your place on the call!

Reposted from the old blog. I double checked most of these links, and ditched a few, but I may have missed some. Hope they are of use.

My Money has numerous articles, downloadable PDF’s, website links, and other resources, all providing you with FREE access to a huge database of important information for saving and investing, buying a home, saving for your kids, retirement, starting and running a small business, and just about anything else you can think of.

There’s also a FREE My Money Tool Kit you can get that will provide you with publications and pamphlets on investing, saving and protecting your money. You can click the link to fill out the form, or just call this toll free number: 1 (888) Mymoney. That’s 1 (888) 696-6639, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. eastern time (except Federal holidays).

Here’s a look at the articles and links available under the heading “Starting A Small Business”. All of these links should work directly from this site, but don’t forget to check out the other valuable resources at My Money. Some of these links include online classes, downloadable instruction, and podcasts. Please take advantage of these resources! Your tax dollars paid for them and they belong to YOU.

• Choosing a Retirement Solution for Your Small Business It helps small business owners understand the various retirement savings vehicles available to them and encourages them to start a plan for themselves and their employees.
• 401(k) Plans for Small Business – It highlights a 401(k) plan’s advantages, some of the options and responsibilities of an employer in setting up and operating a 401(k), and the different types of 401(k) plans.
• Applying for a Loan
• Business Plan Basics
• Checklist for Starting a Business
• Crossing the Bridge to Self-Employment A Federal Microenterprise Resource Guide
• Financing Basics
• Guide for Retirement Plan Management for Small Business SBA’s interactive website to help small business owners understand roles, responsibilities and resources for retirement plans. Business owners who seek out information about retirement plans help protect themselves from risk. The information on this site can help small business owners understand roles, responsibilities and resources for retirement plans.
• Information and Resources for Employers Instructions and forms that will make the life of an employer easier.
• Information for the Self Employed Information that will help the self-employed run his/her own business.
• Is Entrepreneurship for You?
• Marketing Basics
• Multilevel Marketing Plans Explains how MLMs work to sell goods or services through distributors. Cautions consumers to watch out for “pyramiding”- the illegal practice of paying commissions for recruiting distributors.
• SBA Financing Programs
• Small Business and Self-Employed One-Stop Resource
• Small Business Startup Guide
• Training How to Start a Small Business
• Writing the Business Plan

This Indiana University website is a fine online resource of political cartoon history with examples as far back as the Colonial Era. Abraham Lincoln depicted as a monkey is always a crowd pleaser.

Every time I think cartoonists are rude of late, I just have a look back at those polite and gracious days of yore. Crikey.

Some years back, I won a government grant to study American popular culture. It was a thrill to get to go into the bowels of the Library of Congress and look at cartoons stored carefully in the vaults, in archival boxes, covered in tissue paper. There were Thomas Nast originals, breathtaking to see up close.

There were also some vile cartoons about the sex life of Marie Antoinette. These vicious cartoons and the misinformation spread in them helped fuel the hatred of the peasants during the French Revolution.

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Must Read.

A few years ago, I wrote an article on my work schedule (reposted just a few weeks ago, click the Time Management tab), and the rather intense demands in it led some people to observe that my attitude showed a disturbing level of American go-get-it drive, a sad obsession with “being #1″, and a workaholic tendency.

Darn those crazy Americans! When are they ever going to learn to stop and smell the roses (I grow roses, by the way.)

Well, this very interesting article is yet another look at the simple fact behind success; PRACTICE is a greater indicator of success as an artist than innate talent, and the work habits of those artists who succeed show that those who work harder get better results. It’s not God-given talent, it’s drive and work ethic.

Scientists have investigated this question of expertise — specifically, skill at a level that seems unobtainable by normal, motivated individuals. In one study, researchers led by Florida State University professor K. Anders Ericsson studied musicians at a Berlin conservatory. Students were divided into three skill levels, including one the faculty had identified as having the best chance of becoming world-class soloists. The researchers had the students keep diaries of their schedules and looked at such information as when they started playing and their practice habits as children…

The results were clear-cut, with little room for any sort of inscrutable God-given talent. The elite musicians had simply practiced far more than the others. “That’s been replicated for all sorts of things — chess players and athletes, dart players,” says Ericsson. “The only striking difference between experts and amateurs is in this capability to deliberately practice.” The group even determined the number of hours musicians must play to compete at the highest professional level — about 10,000, the equivalent of practicing four hours a day, every day, for almost seven years. (more…)