Art has always inspired people and is considered one of the best ways to express oneself. It has connected people across societies and cultures in the common pursuit of realising their highest ideals – beauty, a sense of belonging, creative expression and individuality. As an artist and creative, you invest so much time, money, effort and skill in creating beautiful pieces pregnant with meaning & purpose.
Your artistic legacy will live long after you’ve passed away. As a result, it’s prudent to consider legacy planning to protect your artwork for your loved ones. This includes how your art is managed, who can have access to it, whether it should be sold, under what conditions etc.
In this article, we’ll explore 4 tips for Legacy planning.
1. Archiving Your Work
As an artist, one of the most important things to do is to catalogue your prized artworks. It is highly recommended to make a detailed list or inventory of items with information like size, date of completion or sale, receipts, photographic copies and anything else that uniquely identifies your work.
This will also ease the process of digitalising your work for online catalogues and digital estate management. Digitalising your artwork removes geographical limits and allows a wider audience to access your creative work. Besides that, it is a security measure to protect it from any potential damage like wear and tear that comes with time.
2. Protecting Your Work With Copyright & Licenses
Copyrighting your work should be a no-brainer. It protects your work from illegal distribution for free on the internet, using your work adaptations publicly or through other mediums such as film, drama, or advertisements.
You do not have to apply for copyright protection as such because whatever art form you produce, irrespective of the medium used, for example: illustration, photography, painting, original composition, short films etc are automatically your copyrighted materials. All you need to use is a copyright mark © along with the year of its origin/creation.
Generally, using a copyright mark protects your work for at least 5 decades. There are different protection periods for different artworks, something worth looking into to determine which copyright protection best fits your artwork.
You could also consider trademarks & licensing agreements as part of protecting your intellectual property rights (IPR) to determine how your artwork is used or distributed in the future. This can include your signature, logo, and other features of your branding. These need to be registered at the IPR office to grant your work extra protection.
3. Including Your Artwork in Estate Planning
While most trademarks and licenses will cover how your artwork can be used, including them in your estate planning will be an added advantage. Legally including them in a will can help protect your family & beneficiaries from legal disputes over your valuable art.
If you are planning to donate your artwork, you may also be able to employ government schemes like the cultural gifts scheme. It can help you receive tax deductions.
The most crucial steps of estate planning besides creating a will, is to make a lasting power of attorney (LPA) and appoint a trusted family member or attorney/solicitor to execute your will. An LPA is especially relevant if you’re anticipating incapacitation at any point due to illness or ageing.
You could easily make a lasting power of attorney online these days and fully secure legal protection for your artwork, including its execution & other financial arrangements.
Since there are different LPAs to cover finances & health issues, you could create a finance & property LPA specifically for the handling of your artwork & IPR. Doing this can help you avoid expensive legal battles & long probates for the sake of your beneficiaries.
4. Your Artistic Vision & Legacy
Your artistic vision is unique to you and your legacy is a valuable, physical expression of that. Writing a book explaining your vision or cataloguing your artwork is a great way to honour years of artistic work.
It serves both as a record of your art legacy as well as a memoir of sorts. It can provide your audience with a contextual reference of all that has inspired you on your journey. You could consider leaving an artist’s vision statement that supplements your artwork.
A way of furthering this vision could also include collaborating with galleries & museums (where applicable) that can archive your works or display them. It is common for well-known art galleries to use Artist catalogues as part of their exhibits; they’re usually put together by art experts and list all your works in great detail. It’s more than just a fancy coffee table book and is considered to be an art connoisseur’s most cherished possession after the artwork itself.
Conclusion
Art, no matter its medium, is worth preserving and passing on to the next generation. Planning for your artistic legacy therefore becomes a vital part of that vision. Legal steps such as including your artwork & IPR in estate planning and appointing executors for an LPA will protect your artistic legacy from unnecessary legal hassles.
You could even consider a letter of wishes to let your beneficiaries know how you intend these artworks to be used or distributed after your passing. We hope these tips help you in creating and leaving a beautiful artistic legacy.
