Serving the Creative Arts Community Since 1974

CLA's 50 Year

Anniversary Celebration

Thank you for joining us in celebrating 50 years of service.

Let us know how CLA has helped you!

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California Lawyers for the Arts empowers the creative community

by providing:

EDUCATION

CLA's Educational Program offers workshops, seminars and special events throughout the state on a variety of legal and business topics that affect the creative community.

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LAWYER REFERRAL & INFORMATION SERVICES

If you are a creative artist, an arts organization, an inventor — or anyone with an arts or innovation-related legal question — California Lawyers for the Arts would like to help you find qualified legal counsel to assist with your legal matter.

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ARTS ARBITRATION & MEDIATION SERVICES

Need help resolving a dispute?
AAMS, a program of California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA), has provided alternative dispute resolution to artists and entertainers since 1980.

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Upcoming Workshops & Events

Copyright Infringement and Idea Theft

Protecting Your Creative Work in the Digital Age

Thursday, November 14th, 2024, 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM

Via Zoom

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Creative Workforce Development Programs

Designing Creative Futures

An arts-focused internship program for formerly incarcerated individuals

We are currently accepting applications for Spring 2025

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Spotlight on the Arts

(Spotlight) is a program of California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA) that provides multidisciplinary arts workforce development training for youth.

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Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

The CLA YouTube Channel features educational workshops, seminars and events!

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Subscribe to our Video on Demand

CLA's Video on Demand

Featuring 4-part Legal Fundamentals Video Series - FREE for Members

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CLA NEWS

CLA is supporting Proposition 6 on the November, 2024 state ballot in order to prohibit slavery in any form in California, including forced labor compelled by physical or legal coercion in our state prisons. If approved by the voters, The End Slavery Act will amend Article 1, Section 6 of the California constitution that currently prohibits slavery and also prohibits involuntary servitude except to punish crime. We encourage you to register to vote, and support Prop 6 in November. During the past six years, the voters in Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, Alabama, Tennessee, Vermont and Oregon have amended their state constitutions to eliminate slavery and involuntary servitude. We can too. In alignment with positions undertaken by Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, The Abolish Slavery National Network, the ACLU, and the Free at Last Coalition, CLA submitted letters of support to the California legislature. Introduced as ACA-8 by Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D-Antioch), the measure passed the State Assembly in 2023 and the California Senate during its last session on June 27, 2024. With funding from the San Francisco Foundation's grant from the California Arts Council for the Bay Area Creative Corps, CLA will be presenting three Urban Arts Festivals, beginning November 11 in San Francisco, to raise awareness of this issue and encourage voter registration.

Check out our ALA 2024 video HERE

Congratulations to arts education advocates who led successful efforts to pass Proposition 28 which will provide $1 billion/year to place at least one artist in every public K-12 school in California.

Voice of America distributed a video on Designing Creative Futures that profiles our intern, Carlos Vasquez, discussing his work at the Robey Theatre in Los Angeles.

CLA Executive Director Alma Robinson was recently interviewed on the topic of "Lawyers for System Impacted Artists" by Rashida Ricketts for her Graves to Gardens Podcast.

He wants to Kick Jim Crow Out of the California Constitution - Los Angeles Times

Young Counsel 'love' for pro-bono helps firms train and retain, Managing IP article featuring CLA's California Inventors Assistance Program that benefits not only the client but the lawyers who take on the cases too!

Resources

The National Endowment for the Arts has developed a toolkit for people with disabilities seeking careers in the arts. Designed for performers, visual artists, teaching artists, cultural workers, administrators and more, the toolkit will help disabled artists access career opportunities.

Learn More HERE

Arts In Corrections Tool Kits

These Tool Kits have been assembled to provide the arts in corrections field with useful documents for program development, delivery and evaluation.

DOWNLOAD HERE

The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019 (“CASE Act”) establishes a new forum for copyright small claims. Passed in 2020, the CASE Act marks a potentially significant shift in how copyright claims are disputed and resolved. This toolkit was created to compile information regarding the CASE Act. Specifically, the aim of this toolkit is to provide readers information aboutthe Act, its mechanisms, and list resources for further exploration.

DOWNLOAD HERE

CLA's Life After AB5 Toolkit describes the legal background of the AB5 law and various options that employers and the artists they work with can consider going forward. The newest edition incorporates the latest state legislative amendments.

DOWNLOAD HERE

How AB5 has instilled fear and confusion in the California Arts Community, Los Angeles Times article featuring comments from CLA Board Member M.J. Bogatin

CLA by The Numbers

July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023

In our 47th Fiscal Year

CLA Members

630

Received Legal Assistance from the LRIS Service

267

Attended Educational Programs

932

Participated in Alternative Dispute Resolution Services

3118

Received Mediation Training

Youth Trained as Peer Mediators

169

Deserving Teens Placed in Arts Internships

State Prison Residents That Participated in Arts Classes

112

Attended CLA Speakers' Bureau Events

Formerly Incarcerated Persons Placed In Arts Internships

California Lawyers for the Arts is a tax exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit and your donation is tax deductible as a charitable contribution to the fullest extent of the law. State Bar LRS Certificate #0021.

MCLE Provider # 1248.

The information provided on this website is not legal advice. You should consult with an attorney for individual advice regarding your legal matters.

CALIFORNIA LAWYERS

FOR THE ARTS

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CLA NEWS