As citizens, artists influence how the law is made when they vote, when they communicate their preferences to legislators, and when they act together in groups to lobby or otherwise try to influence policy processes. The materials included here focus on law-making processes at the national level. If you are working at the local or state level, you’ll also want to check state laws and regulations and municipal ordinances.
Policy Stakeholders
Many of the laws and regulations that affect artists in areas such as access to infrastructure and access to information fall under the rubric of “media policy.” This piece both introduces the diverse public (governmental) and private sector entities involved in making media policy and provides a model for thinking about what types of stakeholders might be involved in other areas of the law of interest to artists.
Free Press [freepress.net]
Free Press/Beginner’s Guide: Who Makes Media Policy?
While the range of groups involved in any given policy-making process may range from transnational corporations to groups of concerned citizens, the relative influence of various groups is likely to differ significantly. A lot of that influence comes from lobbying efforts. This online database lets you track just who is lobbying whom, with what resources, on which issues. If you are going to get politically active, this resource makes it possible to see just what those with whom you’ll be dealing are doing.
Center for Public Integrity [publicintegrity.org]
Center for Public Integrity/LobbyWatch: How Private Interests Influence Public Policy
This database is specifically devoted to letting you identify which companies in the communication industries are lobbying which politicians on behalf of which issues. Critical knowledge for access to infrastructure.
Center for Public Integrity [publicintegrity.org]
Center for Public Integrity/LobbyWatch: Miscellaneous Communication & Electronics
If you would like to get involved with issues involving access to the infrastructure and media at the local level, you’ll want to know who really owns the media in your area. This database can tell you that.
Center for Public Integrity [publicintegrity.org]
Center for Public Integrity/Media Tracker
Tracking Current Legislation and Regulations
A number of publicly available resources are available for tracking the content of proposed bills and their progress through the legislativie system. Note: In the past, all Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports were publicly available, but this is no longer the case. The largest collection of CRS reports available to members of the public is currently held by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).
Congressional Research Service/Federation of American Scientists [www.fas.org]
Congressional Research Service/Tracking Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Basic Sources
Constantly updated information about state legislation regarding treatment of content that would be of concern to artists.
The Media Coalition [www.mediacoalition.org]
The Media Coalition/Legislative Updates
Participating in Public Debate
A “SLAPP” is a type of lawsuit that is used strategically to limit participation in public debates. It is an artefact of the use of libel cases to try to quell dissent against the Vietnam War. SLAPP laws appear at the state level. Discussion of the SLAPP law in California.
California Anti-SLAPP Project [www.casp.net]
California Anti-SLAPP Project/Survival Guide for SLAPP Victims
Cyber-slapps oppose efforts to censor commentary in public electronic spaces that corporations or others may not wish to see made available.
California Anti-SLAPP Project [www.casp.net]
California Anti-SLAPP Project/Cyber-SLAPPs: Company Lawsuits against Anonymous Internet Posters
How to Organize
In many instances artists seeking to affect the law will find groups already organized in their areas of interest. In other cases, however, it may be necessary to start a new group. This is a “how-to” manual for formation of a grassroots group for this purpose.
United Church of Christ [www.ucc.org]
Saskia Fischer & Margot Hardenbergh/Media Empowerment: A Guide to Understanding Media Power and Organizing for Media Justice in Your Community
An introduction to a variety of policy tools and strategies used by communities around the country to increase local support for the arts.
Americans for the Arts [www.americansforthearts.org]
Anne L’Ecuyer/Public Funding for the Arts at the Local Level
A toolkit for building capacity to influence policy-making at the state level.
National Council of Nonprofit Associations [www.ncna.org]
State Policy Action Resource Center/Toolkit: Building Capacity for Public Policy
Increasingly the political organization takes place on the internet. This piece documents the variety of techniques being used around the world for this purpose as of 2005.
Backspace.org [www.backspace.com]
Backspace.org/An Introduction to Activism on the Internet: Advocacy Tools
A guide to organizing community forums around locally important legal issues.
Community Catalyst [www.communitycatalyst.org]
James R. Whitley/A Guide to Organizing Community Forums
The steps by which a successful advocacy campaign can be built.
National Council of Nonprofit Associations [www.ncna.org]
National Council of Nonprofit Associations/Campaign Building Blocks: A Step by Step Outline for Building an Effective Campaign
A “how-to” guide to development of an arts agency at the municipal level.
Americans for the Arts [www.americansforthearts.org]
Cheryl L. Yuen/Community Vision: A Policy Guide to Local Arts Agency Development
Links to a number of “how-to” guides for citizen activists can be found here.
American Civil Liberties Union [aclu.org]
ACLU/Becoming an Effective and Efficient Activist
Lobbying by Non-Profits
Arts institutions, artists’ groups, and non-profits involved in public policy often have tax-exempt status. Engaging in lobbying or other types of political advocacy can cause such an organization to lose this status. There may also be specific requirements regarding lobbying generated by funding sources if you have grants or donations from the government.
Maine Association of Nonprofits [www.nonprofitmaine.org]
Maine Association of Nonprofits/Federal Lobbying Rules and regulations for 501(c)(3) Organizations
A report on the ways in which federal lobbying regulations interact with federal tax law and other rules and regulations to shape the context within which artists and arts organizations can operate.
Congressional Research Service/National Council for Science and Empowerment [ncseonline.org]
Jack H. Maskell/Lobbying Regulations on Non-Profit Organizations
In addition to federal laws governing lobbying, there are also laws at the state level. These can differ significantly in terms of the amount of transparency they require and what qualifies as lobbying activities. This web page compares state laws on a number of dimensions.
Center for Public Integrity [www.publicintegrity.org]
Center for Public Integrity/Lobbying Disclosure Comparisons 2003
A summary of the terms used in regulation of lobbying by non-profits and “how-to” advice regarding compliance with regulations.
NP Action [www.npaction.org]
NP Action/Summary of IRS Lobbying Regulations for Charities
This primer explains what a non-profit arts organization can and cannot do in the area of lobbying in order to protect its tax-exempt status.
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies [www.nasaa-arts.org]
NASAA/Advocacy by Arts Organizations: Tax Laws and Lobbying
Election Campaigns
After a study finding that some non-profit organizations had been inappropriately involved in election campaigns, these guidelines for what such organizations can and cannot do were issued.
Internal Revenue Service [www.irs.gov]
IRS/Election Year Activities and the Prohibition on Political Campaign Intervention for 501(c)(3) Organizations
Procedures non-profit organizations should use to demonstrate compliance with election laws.
Internal Revenue Service [www.irs.gov]
IRS/Political Activity Compliance Initiative: Procedures for 501(c)(3) Organizations
There are some nonpartisan election-related activities in which non-profits can legally engage. Here is a summary of these activities from the perspective of funding foundations.
Alliance for Justice [www.afj.org]
Alliance for Justice/Foundation Support for Election-Related Activities
A complex mix of campaign finance laws and other regulations are undergoing interpretation regarding their application to political speech on the internet. This piece provides an introduction to these laws and regulations and examines their implications for free speech.
Center for Democracy and Technology [www.cdt.org]
Center for Democracy and Technology/Political Speech