Legal Issues

IRS Disclosures for Exempt Organizations

How do you know which of your records are open to public inspection? How do you determine fair market value for goods or services given in exchange for contributions? Answers to these and other questions can be found in handy PDF form here. There's also an animated version you can watch and hear online.

Visual Artwork and Copyright Protection

When an artist sells physical artwork, the copyrights in the artwork do not transfer to the purchaser. The copyright owner must enter into a written agreement, specifying the rights being transferred, in order to sell a copyright. The first sale doctrine allows the purchaser of a lawful copy of the artwork to resell, distribute, or publicly display that copy without the artist’s permission. However, the artist retains the copyrights in the artwork, and the rights of attribution and integrity in the sale of the physical artwork.