Issue 2 June 2010
Raw Law. Your Art. Your rights.
By Rebecca Laubi *
Over the past year Arts Law has been involved in Raw Law, a challenging but rewarding project initiated by Arts Access Victoria. Arts Access Victoria is a disability arts organisation that provides access, participation, engagement and professional development in the arts and cultural life across Victoria for people with a disability. The Raw Law project aims at providing accessible legal information on arts law issues for people with disabilities.
The idea behind Raw Law
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A few years ago, an actor with an intellectual disability participated in a film project. When he saw the final product, and realised that his comments in front of the camera would be available for all to hear, he requested the organisation running the project to remove that content or abstain from showing the film. It appeared that his consent was invalid, with the result that the project had to be abandoned.
Adam Rosza, Arts Development Officer, and his colleagues at Arts Access Victoria became aware of the risks such situations presented and of the need for legal information on artists’ rights and obligations. They also soon realised, however, that there was no material providing that information for the people they worked with – or rather, the information readily available (such as information sheets from Arts Law or the Australian Copyright Council) wasn't designed for people with a range of disabilities. The idea of creating a legal resource for people who because of a physical or intellectual impairment, a culturally or linguistically diverse background, or any other cause which places them at a disadvantage, experience barriers to participating in the arts arose from this awareness and identification of a gap in services. In partnership with Arts Law, Arts Access Victoria set off to fill that gap by developing a resource similar to the toolkit Arts Law had developed a few years ago to explain legal concepts to Indigenous artists.
The challenge of creating an appropriate resource
Creating 'good' access to information was the over-arching challenge of Raw Law – not only in design, but also in the language and delivery.
The parties quickly identified that the Raw Law resource should cover copyright, moral rights and contracts by giving some basic information on those issues. They are at the heart of artists’ concerns when legal questions arise, as illustrated by Arts Law’s daily legal advice work. Finding an appropriate format and an appropriate language proved more difficult.
The format finally adopted, a booklet covering all issues rather than individual fact sheets, allows the user to approach the information from two directions: The user can read the general information on copyright, moral rights and contracts, for example What is copyright? Who has moral rights and how long do they last? What should you do before making a contract? Alternatively, the user can go directly to the section of the booklet which provides legal information in relation to the art sector in which she or he practices, for instance legal information for visual artists or for performers. Those arts sector specific sections state summarily the overarching principles and go into more information as to the specific rights and obligations of artists. They also provide case studies to illustrate how the law operates.
For Arts Law, the real challenge was to make complex legal information simple and accessible without compromising on accuracy. Law can be difficult to understand, whether or not one is affected by some comprehension impairment. Moreover, the legal concepts relating to copyright and moral rights are often quite abstract and difficult to comprehend. As a result, drafting the legal information went way beyond an exercise in plain English.
Many words were questioned to limit the use of legal jargon. Where legal terms could not be avoided because of their specific meaning, the term appears in blue and is defined in the Key words section of Raw Law. Concepts which the lawyer thought were clear were probed by the Arts Development Officer until they found a wording which was also clear for the layperson. Arts Access Victoria and Arts Law exchanged countless drafts, with Arts Access Victoria simplifying the content and Arts Law ensuring it remained correct.
The result
The outcome of this partnership is an accurate resource which provides the basic legal information the user needs and can process. Neither intended as a law thesis nor as legal advice, Raw Law. Your art. Your rights is a guide about legal issues for artists. Hopefully, it will also be a useful resource for arts organisations or other organisations working with people with a range of disabilities to ensure that their work is carried out in a framework where each participant is aware of his or her rights and duties, and is respectful of those rights.
After its launch in July Raw Law will be accessible as a booklet as well as a film on YouTube and on DVD for people who prefer information expressed in visual terms. Further, the Raw Law website will allow people who have the capacity or desire to further explore legal issues related to the Raw Law topics.
* Rebecca is a senior solicitor at Arts Law
Relevant Arts Law agreements and publications: Copyright Information Sheet Moral Rights Information Sheet
Useful links: RAW LAW on YouTube Arts Access Victoria