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Artist Visas, Green Cards and Related Planning for U.S. Tours and Engagements of Foreign Artists: In a global marketplace, the arts and entertainment industry has become international. Not only does the U.S. market expect to have access to the best creative artists the world has to offer, but artists are critical to presenting and preserving culture and building bridges of understanding and communication between disparate groups. While the U.S. immigration process for foreign artists to obtain visas and work authorizations is viewed, not without some justification, as burdensome, uninviting, and discouraging, with sufficient planning and attention to detail the process can be navigated and most foreign artists can, and do, enter and perform as desired—most often with our help!
FTM Arts Law is one of the few law firms in the nation renowned for its expertise in the specialized field of visas and immigration issues for foreign artists and performers. Indeed, Jonathan Ginsburg, not only authored what has become the essential online resource on the subject of obtaining visas for foreign artists, www.ArtistsfromAbroad.org, but was the principal negotiator of the underlying immigration law as it pertains to the performing arts. As a result of this unique understanding of the law, along with our track record in obtaining desired results, we have become the preeminent law firm for arts immigration issues for many of the nation's most distinguished presenters, venues, producers, promoters, and arts organizations, as well as for many of the most significant artists, performers, bands, writers, performance troupes, and arts companies from around the world.
Our services not only include all aspects of preparing and filing visa and immigration petitions and applications, but working with presenters, venues, managers, agents, and artists to determine the most appropriate and cost effective strategies for achieving their goals while at the same time complying with applicable statutes and regulations. This includes maximizing classification periods, creating workable schedules and itineraries, and interfacing with unions, U.S. consulates, and government agencies—particularly when the government agencies make mistakes—and they will!
Tax Issues for Foreign Artists: If the visa and immigration process were not enough of a burden, the Internal Revenue Service (along with various state tax agencies) has begun increasing efforts to enforce and collect the tax obligations of foreign artists by pursuing the venues and producers who hire and present them as well as the mangers and agents who promote them. The tax laws are complex, convoluted and arcane, involving disparate tax treaties between the United States and the rest of the world and inconsistent procedures and policies between the IRS and various federal agencies. FTM Arts Law has taken the lead in understanding this complex area, including updating www.ArtistsfromAbroad.org to include an overview of the most recent tax information and providing specific webinars, workshops, and seminars to assist those impacted by these issues. Our comprehensive services in this area include determining tax liabilities and any applicable exemptions, preparing and filing tax forms, obtaining social security and tax identification numbers, arranging Central Withholding Agreements, and preparing and filing tax returns.
Licensing, Copyright, and Intellectual Property: Other industries create cars, washing machines, or computers. Artists and arts professionals create passion, inspiration, emotion, and experiences in the form of words, sound, images, design, and movement. We assist our clients in protecting their creative work through copyright and trademark registration and comprehensive rights management as well as assist in licensing the necessary rights they need to use materials created by others. Our services include drafting and negotiating licensing and option agreements, assignments, recording and distribution agreements, production agreements, artistic commissions, performance agreements, endorsements, and agreements for creative services; rights clearances, title searches, E&O reviews, and public domain and fair use evaluations; and addressing related issues including privacy, publicity, First Amendment, and defamation issues.
Contracts and Collaborations: Too often, parties in the arts will agree to work together either without exploring all of the aspects of their intended relationship or with over-simplified contracts that don't adequately offer any actual protection. Occasionally, they will cobble together boilerplate or "model" language that neither understands or, more often, dispense with any written agreement of any kind. Contrary to popular belief, a contract need neither be an invitation to make unreasonable demands, an opportunity to trap the unwary with confusing terms and language, nor a complex document written on vellum, notarized, and affixed with sealing wax. Rather, a properly drafted contract presents a critical opportunity to effectuate communication, build trust, and explore issues that the parties may not have considered–or reveal irreconcilable differences that could save both parties from a regrettable relationship. We believe that all transactions in the arts should be approached in the spirit of a collaborative relationship. Anything less is a non-starter. Accordingly, we assist our clients in memorializing their understandings, decoding and clarifying language drafted by others, suggesting language and solutions for complex relationships and transactions, presenting terms and scenarios the parties may not have considered, and ultimately, drafting contracts that accurately reflect the intention of the parties.
Negotiation and Representation: The business of the arts is about opportunities–pursuing them, creating them, and understanding them. Many times, a client may feel awkward or uncomfortable being his or her own advocate or asking pertinent questions, either for fear of sparking a confrontation or offending a partner or collaborator, or may simply not know what to ask. From recording contracts, management and production agreements, and creative commissions to licenses, employment contracts, and negotiations with artist unions, when an opportunity presents itself, we assist our clients in evaluating the proposal, representing their interests in a positive and productive manner, and negotiating the best terms possible on their behalf. Of course, given the nature of the arts and entertainment industry, its not uncommon for clients to find themselves in an unequal bargaining position where they have little or no ability to make demands or negotiate the terms they want, but they are loath to turn down what may be perceived as their only opportunity. In such instances, we assist our clients in evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of a proposal and in making an educated determination as to whether or not it is, indeed, in their best interest. Sometimes walking away is, in fact, a better option than a deal accepted out of a sense of desperation.
Business and Non-Profit Counseling, Organization and Management: New technologies and business models are allowing artists and arts professionals to abandon the traditional model of creating works for others to promote, distribute and produce and, instead, allowing them to take greater control of their own careers by forming their own businesses, production companies, record labels, galleries, management companies, agencies, and non-profits. Along with this new entrepreneurial spirit comes the challenge of dealing with corporate and business issues that many in the arts community have never encountered and for which they have received little, if any, formal training. We counsel and advise our clients with regard to all aspects of setting up and running their businesses (both for-profit and non-profit/tax exempt), from selecting and forming the appropriate corporate structure to assisting with their business plans, drafting financing and investor agreements, providing strategic advice and planning, drafting and reviewing corporate contracts and documents, advising with regard to industry customs and practices, establishing corporate policies and procedures, addressing employment and labor matters, advising with regard to insurance and liability issues, advising with regard to non-profit board formation and management, and facilitating compliance with all state and federal requirements.
Creative Problem Solving: Occasionally, things don't goalways go the plan you had in mind to start when youintended it to go at the beginning. Not to worry. Take a deep breath and let us help. Creative professionals require creative solutions. Whether its proposing solutions to an unattainable license, resolving a miscommunication, obtaining an emergency visa, avoiding a threatened engagement cancelation, finding a loophole, rationalizing a conundrum, or simply finding the right person for a client to talk to, our legal acumen combined with our knowledge of the people, personalities, and nuances of the arts and entertainment industry often allows us to pluck our clients from the brink of despair.
Crisis Prevention: FTM Arts Law is well known for its ability to solve problems. However, we'd rather help you avoid them in the first place. Our services can be even more effective and valuable when used for advanced planning and preventative consultations. While we are always grateful when we hear "You guys are great...I'll call you the next time I get in trouble", if you wait until there's a problem, many times all that can be done is to officially confirm than nothing can be done. Many people are reluctant to call an attorney either because they feel it will be too expensive or too confusing, or because it will ultimately result in someone getting sued. And with most attorneys, this is true, but FTM Arts Law is the exception. By consulting with us before you sign a contract, embark on a new project, or take matters into your own hands, we can often identify a risk or problem, and propose a cost effective solution or suggest an alternative course of action, which if otherwise left undiscovered or undiffused could sit like an unexploded bomb waiting to cause disastrous personal, professional, emotional, and financial consequences. In some instances, if there is a particular project you feel passionate about or which could lead to further career advancement, it may be in your interest to accept some degree of risk. However, crisis prevention also includes identifying such risks so that you are not caught unprepared or surprised.
Dispute Resolution: Unlike the typical "take no prisoners" approach to dispute resolution most attorneys use in the "real" world, we work with our clients to help them evaluate the best option for resolving a dispute, including mediation and arbitration, as well as positive peer and community involvement. While a lawsuit is sometimes necessary and unavoidable, it should always be a last resort. A victory at all costs is not a victory. There are always costs, including non-monetary costs. We will work with you to assess the merits of a dispute, including whether or not a dispute is worth resolving in the first place. Should a lawsuit be inevitable, FTM Arts Law, in conjunction with Fettmann, Tolchin and Majors, PC, has a litigation team at our clients' disposal with extensive experience practicing before State and Federal Courts, as well as appellate courts, administrative hearings, and arbitrations.
Seminars, Lectures and Workshops: FTM Arts Law is dedicated to arts education...and not just teaching small children to play the piano. For us, arts education means actively creating and eagerly accepting opportunities to educate the arts and entertainment community on business and legal concepts and practices affecting the field so that artists, arts professionals, and those working in the industry can better plan for and control their own success. As a result, our attorneys and staff are regularly booked as popular speakers at national and international arts conferences, conventions, and festivals, as well as interviewed for nationally broadcast programs, featured on educational webinars and distance learning programs, and asked to serve as lecturers at major colleges, universities, and arts fellowship programs. A list of their upcoming speaking engagements, seminars and workshops can be found at In the Spotlight.
Other Services: As a result of our relationship with Fettmann, Tolchin & Majors, PC, our clients also have access to a full service law firm with experienced attorneys available to assist them with a variety of legal issues, including trusts and estates, business immigration and citizenship, collections, commercial transactions, litigation, government contracts, personal injury and property damage.
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