June 12, 2008
ARTICLES:
>>> June Workship (includes lunch): Web Design II with Erik Fadiman >here
>>> Next Board Meeting >here
>>> Dear Mark - What is the Statute of Limitations?. >here
>>> Graphic Artists Guild Opposes Senate Orphan Works Bill >here
>>> Call to Artists - Tacoma Public Artists Registry >here
>>> Link to Text Only Version if eNewlsetter >here
>>> Classifieds: One (free listings for members) >here

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Seattle Graphic Artists Guild June 2008 Workshop Meeting
(lunch with choice of entree' included):

Web Design II with Erik Fadiman

Where? Rock Salt Steaks and Seafood on Lake Union
1232 Westlake Ave. North, Seattle, WA 98109 206-284-1047

When? Wednesday June 25th, 2008 Networking: starts 11:30 a.m., Meeting: noon to 1:30 p.m.

What? Web Design II
Erik Fadiman is back and does he has great stuff for us.
Learn How to:
Build web pages with Cascading Style Sheets.
Use CSS to change how a web page looks without changing content.
Lay out web pages with CSS in Adobe Dreamweaver.
Use list for navigation.
Understand:
The CSS Box Model.
The importance of <DIV> tags and structural mark-up.
The separation of presentation and content.
Tour:
The CSS Zen Garden site.
Erik will provide step-by-step instructions and links to exercise files.
If you attended The New Basics of Web Design you know what a great presentation this will be. If you couldn't attend the March workshop don't miss this one.

How much?
Prepaid members and students: $30. Must RSVP using PayPal on the Guild website by Friday before the meeting for reserved price. Students must show current, full-time student ID at the door.
Prepaid non-members: $35. Must RSVP using PayPal on the Guild website by Friday before the workshop for reserved price.
Walk-in members and students: $35. Students must show current, full-time student ID.
Walk-in non-members: $40.
Note: At-the-door payments by CREDIT CARDS are OK. Become a member of the Guild at the meeting, and your meeting admission is free!
Lunch with choice of entree' is included with workshop:

*** When registering, PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU'D LIKE THE MEAT OR VEGETARIAN ENTREE BY NOTING YOUR PREFERENCE IN THE PAYPAL COMMENTS BOX WHILE MAKING YOUR RSVP.

Dress code? No. Business attire is always welcome.

Parking? Lots of it, and some of it free.

RESERVATIONS: Please RSVP before NOON on June 20th.
http://www.seattleguild.org/meetingPaypal.html


CANCELLATIONS: The SPGA/Seattle Chapter is charged for all reservations and food. If you are unable to attend send, an email to Becky Lucas (beam@deainc.com), SPGA/Seattle Guild Treasurer by NOON on the Friday before the event, to avoid being charged for your meal. No-shows will be billed.

Our new venue for meetings is the Rock Salt Steaks and Seafood on Lake Union.
Rock Salt Steaks and Seafood
1232 Westlake Ave North
Seattle, WA 98109
206-284-1047
http://www.rocksaltlakeunion.com/index.html

Reservation Questions? please email reserve@seattleguild.org

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BOARD MEETING INFORMATION

Board Meetings are now held on the second Wednesday of every month, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm (meeting starts at 6:00pm).
Next board meeting: July 9th, 2008, meeting starts at 6pm.
Location:
Greenwood Public Library
8016 Greenwood Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98103
206-684-4086

Arrive at 5:30pm, relax and network a bit, and begin the meeting at 6, wrap up at 7:30.
Attendance: All Members are welcome and encouraged to come and get involved at Board meetings! Interested Members who attend can provide input/feedback on various issues, or can volunteer to help with the SPGA/Seattle Chapter's many ongoing tasks and projects. We're a fun group and you'll have a good time. Make the most of your membership by getting involved.
For More Information: please emailpresident@seattleguild.org.

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What is the Statute of Limitations?

Dear Mark,

I was wondering if any of you can help me with this question: Can an employer legally ask this and demand to have an employee sign this document? Isn’t it against the law? I did take the company name out.

Condition and Term of Employment
Restriction on Employee Regarding Provision of Services to a Third Party
I, insert your name here, confirm and agree that as a condition of my employment with the Company Name, that I have agreed not to provide services to, work for, have a working interest in, consult for or otherwise in any way commit my personal time in an information technology capacity to any third party without express prior written consent of a senior manager, Information Technology Department of the Company Name, which consent, if given, will be valid only for a period of 1 year.
Dated this _______ day of ____________, 2008.
Understood, Confirmed and Agreed:
______________________________________________ Signature
– Candice Conditional

Dear Candice,

I believe you are looking at a no-compete agreement. And like many agreements it recognizes that "your rights" can only be signed away. It is completely legal for a business to ask you to sign away your rights. And it’s completely legal for you to say, “No.” Your "No" might be seen as a negotiation tactic. Certainly by signing this agreement you are limiting the field in which you can do business, and for an independent contractor such as yourself, that could adversely affect your income. So, you need to ask yourself, “Just how does this company plan on compensating me?” Whenever a client asks for exclusivity to your work, in whatever form, it should not be given freely. Such exclusivity is very valuable. In my eyes, should the potential client not be willing to increase their offer to you to compensate, then your “No” should remain fixed. And should the client have this condition and term set as their walk-away point, you know that you are avoiding an arrangement which showed clear indicators of having the potential to be detrimental to your business.

I hope that helps,
Mark Monlux

If you have a question for the Ethics Chair, please email them with the Subject Line "Dear Mark" here.

DISCLAIMER: Mark Monlux's advice is a self indulgent pontification which may or may not cover general principles of law in response to issues of concern to the illustration community. Nothing in email should be construed to be a substitute for advice of counsel regarding the specific facts and circumstances of an individual case. Laws and their interpretation differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Legal advice addressing a specific situation should be sought from an attorney duly licensed in the appropriate jurisdiction.
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Graphic Artists Guild Opposes Senate Orphan Works Bill

NEW YORK – The Graphic Artists Guild’s Board of Directors voted unanimously Friday to oppose the Senate’s passage of the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 that significantly alters copyright protection rights. The Guild says the bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee is incomplete legislation, insufficient protection and indifferent to American workers.

The Guild has been advising members of Congress about the “orphan works” issue since 2006 and participated in discussions with the Copyright Office since 2005. The Guild withheld comment about the Senate bill until work was finalized. That position changed when the completed version was announced only hours before the Senate committee vote last Thursday.

“This is a disappointment,” Guild President John P. Schmelzer said. “We’re encouraging creative people from all industries to contact their senators to express their disapproval before the full Senate vote later this year.”

Orphan works legislation is intended to limit monetary rewards and injunctive relief to stop further infringement of copyrighted works for which the user has been unable to determine the identity of the copyright owner. The Guild and the artist community are concerned that the manner in which the limitations are imposed could produce an incentive for theft in the highly competitive industry that contributes $13 billion a year to the U.S. economy.

Guild leadership was pleased that lawmakers agreed with their recommendation to exclude artwork used on “useful items” such as textiles or wallpaper from being subject to the bill, but they say the measure otherwise has a long way to go before sufficiently protecting copyright owners.

The bill is incomplete because three key provisions the Guild sought to protect artists were left out. At the center of the controversy are the “best practices,” “database certification” and “notice of use” clauses.

When artwork is being considered for use but the artist’s identity is unknown, the bill’s provisions state the user is to attempt to locate the artist by following the best practices outlined by the Register of Copyrights. These practices have not yet been drafted however, and the bill will go into effect prior to their adoption.

The bill also references a database that’s supposed to make the search for copyright owners possible, but no such database exists for graphic, pictorial or sculptural work. There are no plans for the Copyright Office to create this database, and Congress cannot mandate one be made by a private company. In this case, no matter what best practices the Copyright Register might determine are appropriate for finding a copyright owner, the capacity to do so is not possible at this time.

The Guild proposed a further compromise that the legislation include a publicly accessible “notice of use” filing statement. This provision requires an individual or organization to submit a copy of the visual work believed to be orphaned to the Copyright Office prior to using it. The Copyright Office would then post the filed information on the Internet so copyright owners could review the website and self-identify themselves as the owner. The virtual “lost and found” department would additionally ensure bad actors could not falsely assert they fulfilled the diligent search requirement of the law prior to using copyrighted work.

The Guild says copyright law was established to protect the creative community that made America the inventive capital of the world. The bill in its current state does too much to protect the interests of possible infringers and reduces protection for creators. The measure is indifferent to artists because it fails to take into consideration the long-term effect to the income potential for a workforce whose yearly median income is only $39,900 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. People who use artistic works, , such as advertising and promotion managers, make a median average of $73,060 per year.

Guild Administrative Director Patricia McKiernan says the group will remain engaged to resolve these high priority shortcomings of the legislation.
“Copyright protection is an important issue for our membership and the economy they serve,” McKiernan said. “When anyone’s economic rights are reduced, it has enormous implications for the country as a whole. We will remain steadfast for the artist’s interests and this important industry.” ###

I urge all artists to listen to the conference call on May 5 with our lobbyist Megan Gray. It's about 1 1/4 hours, and she answers the common important questions that artists are asking about these bills.
dial (712) 432-1284, enter access code 953763#, and the recording will playback.

Additional articles and features regarding the Guild's position on Orphan Works can be found on the Guild's National Advocacy webpage here: http://gag.org/activities/Orphan_Works.php#Background

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Call to Artists - Tacoma Public Artist Registry - 3 Opportunities

About the Artist Registry
The City of Tacoma and the Tacoma Arts Commission are developing an online Public Artist Registry. Its purpose is to provide a juried listing of visual artists who are interested in creating public art along with a portfolio of their artwork, resume, and contact information. The Arts Commission intends this registry to be a valuable resource for architects, designers, public and private organizations, and community groups that wish to identify and/or contact artists for the purpose of commissioning or purchasing works of public art. The registry will function as a public resource directory for privately commissioned artwork.

This is a free public service for artists to apply to and is open to all artists who live in Tacoma. All applications will be juried and accepted artists will have their information uploaded to the online Artist Registry which will be a part of TacomaCulture.org.

There are three categories in the registry. Artists can apply for any or all of the three categories and their work will be considered separately for each.

Category 1 - Functional & Architectural Artist-Made Elements
Description: artists who create building parts such as light fixtures, railings, hardware, and seating; elements must be the unique design of the submitting artist.

Category 2 - Public Art & Fine Art
Description: artists capable of working on public art projects such as sculptures, 2-dimenstional portable works, site-integrated and free-standing works, site-specific and performance art, and design & planning teams.

Category 3 - Graphic Design
Description: graphic designers capable of working on public art projects such as signage and illustrations.

Deadline for Submissions: August 8, 2008

Naomi Strom-Avila
Cultural Arts Specialist
City of Tacoma
747 Market Street, Room 900
Tacoma, WA 98402
(253)591-5191
The Artist Registry Application can be downloaded in .pdf form from this Tacoma Culture website page: http://www.tacomaculture.org/arts/opportunities.asp
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eNewsletter Text Only Version Available

You can now access a text only version of this enewsletter . Just look for the download link icon in this and future editions of the Whitespace. We know that some of you have problems printing out the eNewsletter and this link should help.

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Classifieds

University of Washington offers innovative, in-depth professional evening programs for media and visual artists. Programs include certificates in Figure and Portrait Art, Natural Science Illustration, Photography, Filmmaking, 3D Animation, Web Design and a summer Illustrating Children's Picture Books workshop. Visit www.extension.washington.edu or call 800-506-1325.

Your Ad Goes Here
A 50-word ad for $20 is a sweet deal. Members get 2 free ads a year. Check out ad and sponsorship rates. >>here

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