书评:艺术法律对话:艺术企业家令人惊讶的可读指南

作为富有创意的射击游戏和编辑，我们一直在处理与版权相关的所有规则，并为此感到困惑, and intellectual property. But whatever the challenges of making sense of it all, we need to be very aware of what the law says about these topics. 我最近在我们当地的州律师协会找到了一份工作，我在网上直播和录制继续法律教育(CLE)课程. One or our recent topics was “Intellectual Property and the Law.” I struck up a conversation with the presenter, Elizabeth T. 关于事件视频和照片摄影师/编辑几乎每天都面临的问题. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a copy of her book, Arts Law Conversations (Ruly Press, 2014). She gave me a copy and I promised to do a review for the video/photo community. 我的评论的目的不是深入研究所有关于知识产权的解释和法律, but rather to describe how the book helps lay people (i.e., non-lawyers) learn about the subject.

这本书是以一种普通人可以理解知识产权的内容和概念的方式写的. It’s almost like an “Intellectual Property for Dummies” kind of writing style, 以非法律语言提供简明的信息，偶尔穿插幽默的例子和解释. Each chapter is very short and focuses on a specific legal issue. 前几章实际上解释了部分法律制度是如何与成文法和出版物相关的. 如果你想了解一些话题，有很多网站的链接可以帮助你做一些自己的研究. There are great explanations of how to do your own research when needed, and how to interpret some of the laws and rulings cited in the book. It does cite many legal cases with the actual case codes, so looking them up for yourself is as easy as using a search engine. 在许多章节的末尾，甚至有一些小练习供你做，尝试进一步探索这个概念.

As part of the style of writing the author uses, 大多数章节都是以角色扮演的形式展开的，其中有艺术家和律师之间的对话. It’s actually very entertaining, and makes you feel as if you’re sitting in on the meeting they’re having. Each chapter builds on previous chapters. As a concept from a previous chapter is mentioned, 这一章是参考，所以你可以很容易地返回和重读的内容，如果需要的话.

The book covers a large spectrum of intellectual property law from copyrights, to trademarks, to licensing, public performance, and even contracts. As a videographer or photographer, 我发现书中大约有三分之一到一半的内容是针对我可能会有疑问的问题.

无论是从创作者的权利还是从出版商的权利来看，知识产权法都是非常复杂的. Arts Law Conversations dives deep into both sides of the rules. 它帮助企业家了解他们需要做些什么来保护他们的版权, 它可以帮助创意人员了解他们需要使用该财产的权利.

Let me offer an example of what I learned in Chapter 24 entitled, “Owning the Piece (as Opposed to) Owning the Copyright.“我已经修改了实际的故事(所以我不会违反版权法)，但会通过一个类似的故事来传达概念. 来吧:你是一个医生，喜欢收集精美的艺术品在家里展示. You purchase a beautiful painting from an artist well known in your community. When you purchase the artwork, 你有不经许可公开展示这幅画的专有权. 如果几年后你卖掉这幅画，你甚至可以转让专有权. 它可以合法地在你的医生办公室展示，没有问题，即使你是在营利场所展示它.

Here is where it gets interesting: As a doctor, 你开发了一种新的突破性的程序，挽救了生命，并在医学界掀起了风暴(有点像我们行业里疯传的视频)。. As a result, 电影界决定拍一部纪录片，记录你的生活和创造这种突破性新疗法的过程. 他们决定在你的办公室里拍摄电影的一部分，这样电影就尽可能地真实. As part of the filming process, 拍摄场景时，当地艺术家的画作是场景背景的一部分. 当你怀俄明州最好的朋友去看电影时，他们会看到墙上的那幅画. However, 他们正在看墙上的画，但他们和画不在同一个地方. 他们在电视上通过流媒体服务的数字下载观看. 视频的制作者需要购买公开展示这幅画的许可证, or the artist would have a case for copyright infringement. To make it more interesting, 当你因为视频走红而接受电视采访时，想想手臂上的纹身意味着什么. 纹身是艺术品，这意味着纹身师拥有知识产权. You can see how this could be a problem.

Arts Law Conversations 以非律师也能理解的方式处理复杂的知识产权问题. 在社交媒体群和在线视频/照片论坛上，几乎每天都有关于版权和音乐的对话. 这本书将是一个伟大的资产，所有创造性的企业家试图涉水知识产权的复杂性. It's available from Ruly Press www.rulypress.com as well as on Amazon for $21.99.