Arts and Environmental Initiative
On November 10, 2008, California Lawyers for the Arts brought together 70 environmental, philanthropic, and public sector representatives, as well as artists and non-profit arts professionals, for an innovative dialogue on arts and environmental issues. Aligning arts and environmental interests, our goal was to find ways to build a platform for a larger role for the arts in raising public awareness of the pressing environmental concerns that threaten our global well being. A summary of the day's activities is now available!
Please call or write your Senators and Representative in Congress to thank them for supporting the $50 million allocated for the NEA in the Economic Stimulus package (“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). The conference committee, composed of representatives of the House of Representatives and the Senate, included $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, as approved previously by the House. Funds to the NEA would be allocated 40% to state and regional arts councils and 60% for grants to organizations.
NEA Acting Chairman Patrice Walker Powell said, "With the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the agency is honored to serve the American people by supporting its cultural workforce and businesses. The arts and culture industry is a viable sector of the economy. Its employees pay taxes and mortgages as members of the American workforce and are being profoundly impacted by the economic downturn."
More background on the politics leading up to this agreement can be found in the Opinion blog written by Executive Director Alma Robinson and posted in the San Francisco Chronicle.
You can communicate directly with your elected representatives by using Americans for the Arts "Capwiz" tools.
Based on significant concerns artists have expressed about the proposed Orphan Works Amendment to the U.S. Copyright Act, C.L.A. asked California members of the House Judiciary Committee, as well as our state's two senators and the Speaker of the House, to engage in further research and review prior to taking action.
The concept of Orphan Works seeks to address the concerns of parties who would like to use or adapt a copyrighted work but are unable to find the holders of the copyright. The current legislation, both in the House and in the Senate, would limit the damages that a copyright owner can seek if it turns out that one has used the “orphaned” work after making a good faith, reasonably diligent search for the owner. Once the copyright holder is identified, the so called “infringer” must negotiate a reasonable compensation with that person.
Based on the review of the Art Policy Committee of our Board of Directors, we have concluded that we are unable to support the proposed amendment as currently structured in either the Senate version (S. 2913), which passed in the Senate on September 26, 2008, or the House version (H.R. 5889), which is pending. We urged members of Congress not to go forward with this “orphan” concept without much greater protection for the rights of the original creators of copyrighted material.
Our Executive Director, Alma Robinson, was asked to join a national task force seeking input on this issue from artists representing different disciplines throughout the country. If anyone would like to work on this issue, please send an e-mail to advocacy@calawyersforthearts.org.