Call for Written Testimony for Senate Bill S992 and House Bill H1776 -An Act relative to the Creative Economy
PLEASE READ the background info on the issue before your write your testimony
Please send in written testimony in support of these bills to the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development- at the end of this page is a sample letter.
Email address to send your written testimony into: <Luke.Wilder@mahouse.gov> by Thursday, June 25th 5pm (he is the staffer who will make sure all the committee members will get a copy of your testimony.
The hearing for these two pieces of legislation is Tuesday, June 23rd, 1pm in Room 437 at the State House in Boston. The hearing is open to the public and anyone can testify in person (AUD & MALC are testifying). For directions and more info on the hearing: https://malegislature.gov/Events/EventDetail?eventId=2146&eventDataSource=Hearings
Questions about how to craft your testimony and/or about the hearing & legislation- Email: contact (at) artistsunderthedome.org or malc (at) artistsunderthedome.org
How to address emails and letters:
Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development
RE: Senate Bill S992 & House Bill H1776 An Act to Relative to The Creative Economy
Room 43
State House
Boston, MA 02133
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR WRITTEN and VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS:
(PLEASE ONLY USE THIS TEXT AN EXAMPLE- PUT YOUR WRITTEN TESTIMONY IN YOUR OWN WORDS AND MAKE IT DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC)
SAMPLE LETTER
Chairman Representative Scibak & Chairman Senator Wolf and members of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development
Room 43
State House
Boston, MA 02133
Dear Chairman Scibak & Chairman Senator Wolf and members of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development,
Please support Senate Bill S992 and House Bill H1776 -An Act Relative to the Creative Economy. The 2004 Independent Contractor Law change is having negative unintended consequences for Massachusetts artists of all disciplines and other freelancers/self employed people who create intellectual property. Those of us who are paid to create intellectual property* of any kind need to have the option of being treated and paid as an independent contractor.
It is key to understand if you are "employee" you do not control the use of the intellectual property you create as an employee- your employer does. The employer owns the right to sell and use the intellectual property as they see fit (not the employee).
For example, if you are hired to create a design for a company's holiday greeting cards as a freelance graphic artist, you negotiate the rate of your pay AND the use of what you create. The company can only use your design for the printing of the greeting card. If they want to use your design again or for another use, they have to contact you and negotiate the pay/compensation of the new use of your design. This only holds true when you are an independent contractor.
Under the 2004 law change, if a company hires a freelance graphic designer and they already have a graphic designer on staff or even if they don't have one on staff, the "freelance" graphic designer has to be W-2/treated as an employee (have withholdings taken out). The freelance graphic designer is not really an employee of the company. They do not get any benefits, they do not have an office or desk at the company but work from home or from their studio/office outside of their home (that they pay for), and use their own supplies and equipment. The same holds true for photographers, illustrators, and other artists of all disciplines.
However, it needs to be stressed that many artists of all disciplines must travel for their work and do not work primarily or solely out of their home, their own office and/or their studio.
Another example: If you are paid via "W-2" to sing at a church for weekly Sunday service- the church has the right to record your performance and rebroadcast it/sell it in any format they so choose. If you are paid as an independent contractor you can decline to be recorded or you can negotiate the terms under which they can record your performance and what they may do with it (same holds true for dancers and other performers). When they are "W-2" for their work due to the 2004 MA law change, they lose their rights to their intellectual property, and the use of it. They lose their moral and use rights to their work and they also lose needed revenue.
Any solution to the current IC issue should include the language of S 992 and H 1776.
Please do not institute any kind of registry or certification process of any kind as part of any solution. Establishing a registry or certification process as a way to "fix this issue" is unacceptable as it will cause more problems than it will solve.
It is critical that artists of all disciplines (and others who create Intellectual Property) can be independent contractors to be able to control the intellectual property of what they create. Our livelihoods depend on it. Please support Senate Bill S992 and House Bill H1776 -An Act Relative to the Creative Economy!
Sincerely,
your name, artistic discipline and contact information
*Intellectual property not only encompasses copyright. It also includes rights to trademark, publishing, licensing, patents, moral rights, etc..
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