Get Free or Low Cost Legal Advice for the Arts

[Steve Ballard]

Recently I ran across something that I had not know about that was available to most artist here in the U.S. and Canada. I wanted to share this with the composers and song writers here on MLR. Whether your a beginner or have been at it a while, most everyone has legal matters that concern you and need attending to.

There is what is called Volunteer Legal Advise (VLA) organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada. The VLA’s are nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organizations that provides legal assistance to qualifying artists and arts organizations from all creative disciplines.

In order to receive free legal council you have to meet certain financial criteria. Your Adjusted Gross Income on your Federal Income Tax Return can not exceed a specific amount. There is also a one time fee with the application in order to cover the attorneys liability insurance.

If you go over the financial amount they can provide you with a list of volunteer attorneys that you can call and ask if they will reduce their fee for you.

The VLA’s also provide a series of workshops focused on helping artists, arts organizations, and creative businesses learn how to better navigate potential legal issues.

Some of the VLA’s also provide accounting assistance for you as well.

Here is a link to a nation directory of VLA’s:

[Art Munson]

Thanks Steve, send me the link and I will post it.

[Art Munson]

Here’s the link:

http://www.vlany.org/resources/index.php

Thanks Steve!

[Author]

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