Why I belong to the Graphic Artists Guild
Colleen Maloney
(Guild member for 1 year, volunteered as the Membership co-chair):
“I recently made the switch from working on staff as an in-house designer to working alone. But I miss working with people. By joining SPGA, the camaraderie of the members has helped to fill that void.”
Colleen Maloney can be contacted at c.m.maloney@comcast.net 

Members: send us your reasons for joining the Guild.

Seattle Graphic Artists Guild
November 2008 Bonus SPGA/Seattle Chapter Graphic Artists Guild Meeting with special pricing

Where? Seattle Central Community College
1701 Broadway
Seattle Wa 98122
Fifth floor photo studios, Room 5156 &5158

When? Wednesday, November 19, 2008 , 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Networking: starts 6:30 p.m., Speaker presentation at 7:00 p.m.

What? "Tasty Tidbits" Presented by Steve Laskevitch, founder of Luminous Works, Adobe Authorized Training Center   
 
Adobe's Creative Suite 4 has completed the integration of the former Macromedia products into Adobe's lineup. Those recovering Freehand users who've hungered for favorite features are wondering what they'll get in Illustrator. Our old favorite Adobe apps have had some new and wonderful seasoning added, too. So in this substantive and interactive presentation (questions aren't just for the end!), Adobe Certified Instructor Steve Laskevitch will share some of his favorite features from Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator with a dash of Bridge. These morsels will be rich and hearty, so come hungry to learn!

Steve Laskevitch is the founder of Luminous Works, an Adobe Authorized Training Center. With a background in education, physics, and photography, he has been teaching for over 20 years, spending most of that time teaching and producing computer graphics.

Steve has also built production workflows for many companies and regularly helps Adobe Systems prepare Certified Expert exams. He cheerfully serves as the chapter representative for the Seattle InDesign User Group and has taught in the Design Department of Cornish College of the Arts where he was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award. His next book, Photoshop CS4 Photographer's Handbook, will soon be published by Rocky Nook and distributed worldwide by O'Reilly Media.

How much?
$8 for Guild members and students (must show current, full-time ID at event check-in) $15 for Non-Members. Current SCCC faculty and students free (must show ID).

Pre-register by credit card through Paypal on the web site or pay by cash or check only at the door. Join the Guild at the meeting and your meeting cost is FREE, plus you will receive a copy of The Pricing and Ethical Guidelines (over $35 value) to take home with you.
Reservations: http://www.seattleguild.org/meetingPaypal.html
Sorry no Refunds Questions and directions to SCCC campus? please email info@seattleguild.org
Reservation Questions? please email reserve@seattleguild.org
MAP TO SCCC Campus:

Parking? The entrance to the Campus garage is located at the corner of Harvard and Pine-one block west of Broadway on Capitol Hill.
Directions to the Commercial Photography Program's New 5th Floor Studios at Seattle Central Community College:
AFTER PARKING: Make your way to the front of the main campus bldg.(red brick) as it faces Broadway.
Enter from the street through the center doorways. Directly in front of you will be a pair of elevators. Take one of them to the 5th floor. Exit the elevator and proceed across the large open area until you come to a hallway on the left. Follow the hallway until you arrive at the first set of double doors on your left. This is the entrance to the Commercial Photography Studios (rooms 5156-5158) where the meeting will take place.

Questions? please email info@seattleguild.org
>>> back to top

BOARD MEETING INFORMATION
Next regular board meeting:
November 5, 2008,  meeting starts at 6:30 pm.
Location: Barnes & Noble (on the concourse level)
Pacific Place
7th and Pine, downtown Seattle
Arrive at 6:00pm, relax and network a bit, and begin the meeting at 6:30, wrap up at 8:00 p.m.
Attendance: All Guild members (and even not-yet members!) are welcome and encouraged to come and get involved at Board meetings. Interested attendees 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 email president@seattleguild.org
>>> back to top 

Dear Mark- Calendar with Lyrics

Morning Mark,

I am a Guild member to whom you gave great advice about a year ago for my Business of Art class at a local art school in New Jersey. Now I am back again with another question. Another teacher and one of my students came to me with practically identical questions.

They both want to create artwork for calendars, inspired by the musical lyrics of the Doors and Led Zeppelin, but along with their artwork they want to include partial lyrics and/or song titles. I told them they would have to seek permission to include those lyrics and song titles with their pieces to honor copyright laws, and would more than likely have to pay licensing fees (if they were even given permission to include the lyrics and song titles). They are both under the assumption that if they list credits for the lyrics and song titles, they are exempt from needing permission. I say NO. Please let me know the legal and proper way to go in this situation. If you know the proper agencies that they need to contact for permission, would you please pass that information on? I would like to advise all my students about these issues.

Gratefully Yours,
Christine Myshka

Dear Christine,

It could be that you are right, and it could be that the other teacher and the student are right. What decides the matter is the “intent”.

Both your fellow teacher and your student might be thinking that “Fair Use” applies to them. Fair Use is use of copyrighted material without an artist’s permission (while still giving them credit). However, as you can see from the text below provided by the Copyright Office, Fair Use applies to teachers and students only if the intent is to provide a lesson:

The 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of the U.S. Copyright Law cites examples of activities that courts have regarded as fair use: “Quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the author's observations; use in a parody of some of the content of the work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations, in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an event being reported.”

Assigning the project of creating a calendar, or showing a student how to create a calendar can be regarded as a lesson. However, if the intent of the teacher or the student is to produce the calendar as a product, then Fair Use does not apply.

There are four factors to consider in determining Fair Use:
1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. The nature of the copyrighted work;
3.  Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

A quicker way to consider the problem is to think about how money and branding are brought into the equation. Money: If someone makes profit from another’s work, then that money is not going to the artist. Or the value of the work is diluted because the offending party is asking less than full value. Brand: Exposure of the material in a less than favorable way reflects poorly on the originator of the work and decreases the value not only of the work but also on the brand the originator has developed. Such judgment is up to the originator or copyright holder.

In short, if the projects they have in mind have to do with anything outside a lesson plan, they need to request permission. If it is for a lesson plan and there is any question at all that the work being appropriated is anything other than minimal, permission should be requested. The key thing to understand about Fair Use is that it is not a protection for the person or institution. The protection always falls to the holder of the copyright. What Fair Use does is allow teaching institutions to have a little--and let me emphasize the word little--wiggle room to use existing relevant material for a lesson.

The Copyright Office is very clear that the safest course of action is to get permission before using copyrighted material.

While there are fee services you can use to locate quickly whom to query for permission (such as the CCC, Copyright Clearing Center), a little bit of detective work on the Internet can usually yield results. And you will be amazed that very often, after describing the intent or use, permission is often freely granted or has a minimal fee involved.

The Graphic Artists Guild, as partners in the creative process, long ago joined with Copyright Clearance Center in sponsoring the Ask First Campaign (http://www.gag.org/about/ask_first.php) to promote copyright awareness. The Guild encourages everyone to respect private intellectual property and the copyright laws that govern it.

And lastly, remember when getting permission that it must be in writing. The law is very clear that rights can be assigned only in writing. A verbal okay does not cut it legally.

I hope this helps,

Mark

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 your area.
>>> back to top

ESTATE PLANNING FOR ARTISTS
Estate planning is a very important consideration for an artist, and involves more than just writing a will. It will involve the process of organizing and categorizing your works, choosing an executor, selecting such professionals as an attorney and an accountant, and spelling out what should be done with your art work to ensure it will continue to be presented or managed as you wish. You will need to decide if you want your work to be exhibited, and under what conditions. You will need to decide if you want your given to family members, or donated to a gellery or nonprofit organization, or if it should be sold, or licensed for reproduction. Attorney Jeffrey M. Grieff will discuss these and other basic estate planning issues and will answer your questions. Jeffrey M. Grieff is shareholder in Jeffrey M. Grieff, P.S. and Of Counsel to the Seattle law firm, Stafford Frey Cooper Professional Corporation. Mr. Grieff's areas of practice include the formation, maintenance of and tax planning for closely held businesses, and estate planning. Mr. Grieff received his BA degree from the University of Washington and his JD degree from University of Puget Sound. He is a member of the Washington State Bar Association and the American Bar Association, Section of Business Law and Real Property, Trust and Estate Law.

When? Thursday, November 13th, 2008, 12:00 noon - 1:30pm
Where?Garvey Schubert Barer
1191 2nd Ave, 18th floor,
Seattle, Washington 98101
How much? FEE: In advance: $35 attorneys and paralegals; $10 artists and students.
At the door: $40 attorneys and paralegals; $15 artists and students.
Registration: To register, click here
or call 800.838.3006. To pay at the door, RSVP to Washington Lawyers for the Arts at 206.328.7053. Please note that the event is subject to cancellation; visit http://thewla.org/ or call 206.328.7053 for more information.
CLE CREDIT: 1.5 CLE credits pending
>>> back to top

EVENTS
A Graphic Artists Guild National Program
Professional Practices Teleclass.
November 13, 2008 2:00-3:00 pm East Coast Time.
The Client Wish List,
The Beautiful Proposal And The Project Scope.
Presenter: Daniel Schutzsmith
Principal of DSGN & DVLP

New business and sales never seem to be easy tasks for designers and illustrators, especially when freelancing or running a small studio. Most of us would rather have our hands on the design of a project than deal with the business side of it, especially if it is a project we’re not thrilled about doing in the first place. Building a client list you're proud of can be a daunting task. Daniel Schutzsmith will describe how to get the work you want and to get there on your terms using The Client Wish List. He will also outline the essential questions you should ask before taking on a project to determine if the project will be financially, professionally, and emotionally beneficial. Finally, he will overview the best ingredients for a beautiful proposal.

Daniel Schutzsmith is a professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, teaching several web design and business of design related courses. Daniel also teaches several online courses for Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont focusing on Social Networking and Online Visibility.

When not teaching he acts as the Principal and Chief Designerd for DSGN & DVLP, an interactive design studio creating websites that are beautiful, fun to use, and easy to update with a no fluff attitude. He also shares his passion for the craft with other industry professionals through his bi-monthly article on the Business of Design for Dynamic Graphics magazine and has spoken at several conferences on best business practices for designers and the importance of Online Visibility for educators.

Presenter: Daniel Schutzsmith Principal of DSGN & DVLP
In a former life, he acted as business manager for The Chopping Block and worked with clients like Dave Matthews Band, They Might Be Giants, Sony Picture Classics, Phish, Rachael Ray, MTV and TBS. www.dsgndvlp.com
Teleclass Registration 
*Phone number and passcode will be provided upon registration
Registration Fee: $15 members $25 non-members
 
Registration closes at end of day Tuesday, Oct. 28. Please register early! A minimum of preregistered attendees must be reached or the teleclass will be cancelled.
SNAILMAIL CHECK /MONEY ORDER /CHARGE PAYABLE TO: Graphic Artists Guild
Your paid registration includes a copy of the audio file, so register today to secure your place on the call!

Event Details:
Thursday, November 13, 2008
2:00 – 3:30 PM East Coast time

Teleclass Registration 
Phone number and passcode will be provided upon registration
Registration Fee: $15 members $25 non-members Registration closes at end of day Tuesday, Nov. 11. Please register early! A minimum of pre-registered attendees must be reached or the teleclass will be cancelled. Your paid registration includes a copy of the audio file, so register today to secure your place on the call! SNAILMAIL CHECK / MONEY ORDER / CHARGE PAYABLE TO: Graphic Artists Guild We will confirm your registration by e-mail, so be sure to include your e-mail address in the registration form. This e-mail address will also be used to send advance materials for the teleclass, if applicable. 50% Cancellation Fee if you give the Guild more than 24 hours notice of your cancellation. No refund if you do not alert the Guild more than 24 hours in advance.

THE CLIENT WISH LIST, BEAUTIFUL PROPOSAL & THE PROJECT SCOPE • November 13, 2008
HOW TO REGISTER:
Print this form, fill it out, then mail with check / money order / credit card to: Graphic Artists Guild, 32 Broadway, Suite 1114, New York, NY 10004 or FAX to: (212) 791-033

Your Full Name ___________________________________
Daytime Phone ___________________________________
E-mail Address ___________________________________
MUST BE INCLUDED TO RECEIVE ADVANCE MATERIALS (if applicable). The Graphic Artists Guild will also notify you of your registration status via e-mail.
Full Street Addres ________________________________
City/State/Zip ___________________________________
Credit Card Number _______________________________
Credit Card Type __________________________________
Name on Card ___________________________________
Expiration Date __________________________________
Signature ___________________________________

>>> back to top 

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
>>> back to top