Artist Contracts - Intellectual Property 101: Copyright, Patents and Trademarks

Do you know how to protect your intellectual property? As an artist, it’s important you know how to protect your practice. Contracts are a fact of life in any business so it’s important you empower yourself to sign good contractual agreements. A contract review requires diligence and an eye for detail. Designed and led by me, Whitney McGuire, this free legal series will help you walk away more confidently about those tricky terms and conditions and fine print. I will provide an overview of essential legal terms such as copyrights, patents, and trademarks; I will also discuss how to protect and price your work, address common clauses, and find sustainability in your practice.

You will learn the definition of intellectual property as well as a brief history of intellectual property, the high level differences between copyrights, trademarks and patents using examples from fine art, literature, fashion and music. The focus will be on copyright law since it is the most applicable type of intellectual property for artists. You will also learn about new intellectual property technology and NFTs.