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Pro Bono UpdateBy Carol SteinbergSpeakers Bureau The Speakers Bureau is taking shape with over 20 volunteer experts in the areas of entertainment, art and sports law, with specific expertise in such diverse legal areas as theater, art, film finance, FCC/ media, and all aspects of music. We encourage you to volunteer and especially to utilize our speakers for your committee or organizational meetings. If your firm needs an update on a specific topic, be sure to contact us. We will be writing educational programs and reaching out to art schools, public schools and librarians to help inform and keep them abreast of entertainment, art, and sports law issues of interest to them. Educational Panels We are also coordinating educational panels for artists and entertainers, and will invite members of various organizations and students to attend. The first will be called "Getting a Gig Without Losing the Store,” or "How to Protect Your Ideas/Designs and Still Get Business in Tough Economic Times." In this economic downturn, graphic and other designers have a more difficult time getting business. They want to show their ideas and designs to companies, but want to ensure that those ideas are not stolen. As we all know, companies usually refuse to sign agreements preventing them from copying ideas submitted by designers and often ask them to sign releases just to submit their proposals. The designers need to understand the basics of copyright, trademark, and design patent law to know what protections they do and do not have, and also how to protect their ideas. They also need practical advice as to how to pitch their ideas and to negotiate with the companies so to get jobs without getting ripped off. The panel will consist of a graphic designer, an IP lawyer to cover the basics, a lawyer to talk about theft of ideas, and a representative from a company. We have already lined up Arlana Cohen, Esq., a partner at Cowan, Liebowitz, and Latman who has 25 years of experience in all aspects of trademark associated marketing law and related patent issues, who did a tremendous job on EASL's panel on Fashion Design at our Annual Meeting in January. We are also very pleased to have Monica Pa, Esq., an associate at Davis, Wright, and Tremaine, and member of EASL's Pro Bono Steering Committee, who specializes in publishing and copyright law, who will discuss her Power Point presentation about idea protection. We will contact three or four organizations, such as the Graphic Artists Guild and The School of Visual Arts, that will help us get the word out to make this invaluable panel available to their members. The next panel will be about Fair Use for artists and entertainers. Fascinating current cases, such as the two in which street artist Shephard Fairey is seeking a declaratory judgment that his Obama Hope portrait is a fair use of the Associated Press photograph by Manny Garcia, and photographer Patrick Cariou's case against Richard Prince for incorporating his photographs of Rastafarians into his artwork, illustrate just how the issue of fair use is of constant concern to artists. As a teacher of artists' rights in an art school and frequent lecturer to groups of artists, the most frequently asked questions I am asked are:
Artists and entertainers want guidance. Although we cannot provide them with simple rules to guide them in this thorny area, we certainly can help them understand the factors that have to be considered and let them know how the cases have ruled. We will also provide an update on the Orphan Works legislation and help them make sure that their works do not become “orphaned." As with the previous panel, we will reach out to various organizations that can let their members know and will include both artists and attorneys on our panel.
For your information, should you have any questions or wish to volunteer for our pro bono programs and initiatives, please contact the Pro Bono Steering Committee member who best fits your interests as follows:Clinics Elissa Hecker and Christine Pepe are coordinating walk-in legal clinics with various organizations. • Elissa D. Hecker, eheckeresq@yahoo.com • Christine Pepe, cpepe@mwe.com Litigations Monica Pa is coordinating pro bono litigations. • Monica Pa, monicapa@dwt.com Speakers Bureau The Pro Bono Committee’s Speakers Bureau provides speakers on entertainment, art, and sports law issues for not-for-profit organizations, art schools, local high schools, and other groups that can benefit from the wide and enormous expertise of EASL’s members. One of the most satisfying aspects of a successful career can be to speak to working artists to help them understand their rights and the critical issues that affect their careers. Please think about volunteering for this wonderful opportunity to share your expertise with students, artists, and young entertainers who can benefit so much from your knowledge. We are also compiling a list of organizations/entities who may want to avail themselves of this great opportunity. Please send your name, area of expertise, and contact information to Carol Steinberg and Christine Pepe. In addition, please also let them know about excellent speakers whom you have heard speak, so we may contact them, and of organizations who may be interested in having speakers. • Carol Steinberg, CS9@hpd.nyc.gov • Christine Pepe, cpepe@mwe.com Elissa Hecker is coordinating the volunteer mentor/mentee program. • Elissa D. Hecker, eheckeresq@yahoo.com We are looking forward to working with all of you, and to making pro bono resources available to all EASL members.
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Pro Bono Update
