The Craft Artist's Legal Guide: Protect Your Work, Save on Taxes, Maximize Profits (Craft Artist's Legal Guide: Protect Your Work, Save on Taxes,)

Take care of the legal and business side of your business and focus on creating your crafts Crafting for profit is on the rise, and you may find yourself relying more and more on the income generated from your creative enterprise in a down economy. But the legal and business side of crafting can be daunting for artists, consuming time and money that could be better invested in creating your products, and possibly even leaving you open to copyright violation or tax troubles.You've already found your passion, so let The Craft Artist's Legal Guide coach you through the business of crafting with a comprehensive, friendly review of all the major legal and tax considerations facing artists, along with clear examples of how to approach them. You'll learn how to: get a design patent or license a craftprice and sell material, online and offselect the right studio and deal with leases, noise restrictions, and zoning lawsfind and utilize free ways of promoting your business onlinehire workers and sales repschoose the right insurancecomplete and file required business formsprotect copyright, patents, and trade dresssave on taxes and preserve incomeEach chapter of the book starts with an engaging interview with a working craftsperson about the various business and legal issues that every artist is likely to encounter. You'll also get the lowdown on various money-saving online resources that will save you time and money.

The subtitle both summarizes the content nicely and also suggests why one might be interested in the volume. Writing from a base of experience representing art, craft and design clients as well as musicians and publishers, attorney/author Stimm provides clear legal information and solutions for common challenges to maintaining a successful art career. Although caution is suggested in going forward without consulting an attorney for specific problems, the text covers a broad understanding of these anticipated problem areas: pricing and selling; studio considerations; going online; hiring workers and sales reps; business forms and legal liability; copyright, patents, trade dress, names and trademarks; licensing; taxes; lawyers, contracts, and lawsuits. An appendix instructs on how to use an included CD-ROM to prepare important contracts and forms. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Legal and business essentials for crafts artist-entrepreneurs