Negotiations, Contracts, Agreements & Support
Finding Legal Help
This page aims to provide resources regarding finding lawyers and/or legal help specifically for artists.
“From not understanding the explicit terms of a contract, to failing to register your copyright or trademark and losing thousands of dollars in the process, or even defending against claims or potential lawsuits involving your work, there are plenty of reasons why an artist would want to hire a lawyer.”
Four Reasons Artists Should Hire Lawyers by Nicole Martinez of Art Law Journal
Legal Advocacy Groups/Organizations for Artists:
American Bar Association – Provides resources to find help for people who qualify as low-income.
Arts Council Texas – Arts Counsel Texas is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that serves creatives, arts non-profits and small businesses, arts professionals, attorneys, business professionals, and all who support the arts by facilitating meaningful communications and relationships through education, legal advocacy, and collaboration.
Artist Rights Society – Artists Rights Society (ARS) is the preeminent copyright, licensing, and monitoring organization for visual artists in the United States. Founded in 1987, ARS represents the intellectual property rights interests of over 122,000 visual artists and their estates from around the world.
Houston Volunteer Lawyers – The mission of Houston Volunteer Lawyers is to provide free civil legal services to low-income people in Harris County and to promote volunteerism among lawyers.
Lone Star Legal Aid – Lone Star Legal Aid is the fourth largest service provider of free legal aid in the United States. Lone Star Legal Aid serves 72 counties in Texas and four in Arkansas, an area that covers one-third of the state Texas, including almost 60,000 square miles from Texarkana, to the Louisiana-Texas Gulf Coast state-line, down to Matagorda Bay, and four counties in southwest Arkansas.
Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts (TALA) – TALA provides free legal and accounting services to arts nonprofits and artists from all creative disciplines, including visual artists, musicians, actors, dancers, film makers and writers. Over 300 attorneys and accountants donate their time to artists and nonprofit organizations who are unable to afford professional services.
Texas CBAR – CBAR provides free legal services for low income Texans to start or sustain their small business. CBAR offers a full range of legal services for business owners.
