Information on Arts Law
The Arts Law Centre of Australia is the national community legal centre for the arts. It offers advice, education and advocacy services to Australian artists operating across the arts and entertainment industries. In addition, Arts Law runs a service called Artists in the Black, which focuses on advising Indigenous artists and communities around Australia on arts-related legal problems.
Specialised music legal services provided by Arts Law include:
- Preliminary advice and information on music-related legal and business matters including copyright, business names and structures, defamation, insurance and employment.
- Mediation and legal referral services.
- Initial telephone legal advice is free. To lodge your request for legal advice or to find more about Arts Law’s mediation and legal referral services please contact Arts Law by telephone during business hours (EST) on +61 2 9356 2566. Callers outside the Sydney metropolitan area can contact us on our tollfree number by dialling 1800 221 457.
Arts Law also provides the following information services for the music industry:
- A number of information sheets and articles on music-related issues such as copyright, music management, publishing and recording are available for free download from the Arts Law website.
- Sample contracts are downloadable for a fee from the Arts Law website. Sample music contracts include the Band Partnership Deed and the Music Studio Recording Agreement for Unsigned Artists. These agreements are produced with explanatory notes and sample wording for each clause and have been created to assist low-income musicians and music organisations in drafting contracts suitable for their needs.
- Checklists are also downloadable from the Arts Law website for a nominal fee and outline basic issues that should be considered before entering into agreements. Checklists include Live Music Performance: Booking Gigs and the Music Recording Agreements Guide.
Arts Law is also involved in law and policy reform work through researching and lobbying to influence the decision making of Government and other bodies on music-related issues.
Author
First published in Music Forum Vol 13 No 3 (May-July 2007). Submitted 2 June 2007.
Hans founded his own consulting firm, Economic Strategies Pty Ltd, in 1984, following 25 years with larger organisations. He specialised from the outset in applied cultural economics — one of his first major projects was The Australian Music Industry for the Music Board of the Australia Council (published in 1987), which also marks his first connection with Richard Letts who was the Director of the Music Board in the mid-1980s. Hans first assisted the Music Council of Australia in 2000 and between 2006 and 2008 proposed and developed the Knowledge Base, returning in an active capacity as its editor in 2011. In November 2013 the Knowledge Base was transferred to The Music Trust, with MCA's full cooperation.
Between 2000 and 2010 Hans also authored or co-authored several major domestic and international climate change projects, using scenario planning techniques to develop alternative long-term futures. He has for several years been exploring the similarities between the economics of cultural and ecological change, and their continued lack of political clout which is to a large extent due to conventional GDP data being unable to measure the true value of our cultural and environmental capital. This was announced as a major scenario-planning project for The Music Trust in March 2014 (articles of particular relevance to the project are marked *, below).
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