Hiring a lawyer does not have to be an intimidating process. Just like any other service, you should be able to find the attorney that best fits your needs.
At Creative Law Network, we always offer a free consultation to determine if we are the right fit.
Contact Us and see if we're the best fit for you!
While 2020 may not have been what we planned, we are hopeful and excited for a better 2021!
From our family to yours, Creative Law Network would like to wish you a Happy New Year!
The #SaveOurStages Act has passed!
This funding will help independent venues with their expenses so they can stay afloat until reopening. We are looking forward to safely getting back to shows soon!
NIVA is continuing to accept donations while the Implementation Task Force works to distribute funds.
Today is #ColoradoGives Day! We are proud to live and work in the great state of Colorado.
Join us in supporting local Colorado nonprofits and #givewhereyoulive!
The mission of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) is to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live event venues and promoters throughout the United States.
The #SaveOurStages Act will keep independent venues all over the Unites States from closing permanently due to the shutdowns caused by the pandemic. NIVA is asking for a final push to Congress for the #SaveOurStages Act. Join us in the fight and contact your legislators now!
Click the link below to find our more information and to send a letter to your legislators.
Every business has intellectual property, and that intellectual property has value. How do we evaluate, protect, monetize, and capitalize on our intellectual property?
Contact Us and let’s discuss how we can help with your intellectual property needs!
Presented by CBCA’s Colorado Attorneys for the Arts program and the Corazon de Trinidad Creative District, this event is focused on providing artists, performers and creative entities guidance on legal issues relevant to their work, growth and success. The morning will feature an interactive webinar presented by Creative Law Network’s Dave Ratner on the basics of copyright and protecting creative works in our digital landscape, punctuated with live arts experiences. In the afternoon, artists will have an opportunity to sign up for a 20 minute one-on-one consultation with an attorney (separate registration).
When: November 20, 2020 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free for creatives in Southeast Colorado (Las Animas, Huerfano, and Otero Counties). $5 for creatives elsewhere in Colorado.
Schedule
10:00 am - 12:00 pm: Can I Post This?: Understanding Copyright and Navigating the Wild West of the Web
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Ask an Attorney: One-on-One Legal Consultations
What’s in a name? Everything! Your business, product, service or brand name is your trademark. Your trademark can be one of your most valuable assets. So it should be protected! Have you federally registered your trademark? Claimed your common law trademark rights? Please join us and the RiNo Art District for a FREE legal presentation.
Come and learn about the basics of trademark law: what constitutes a trademark, how to choose a strong trademark, how trademark rights are established, how trademarks are protected, and helpful tips on trademark strategy. Most importantly, we’ll answer your questions!
Where: Online
When: Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Nowadays the vast majority of our information is found on the Internet. An important, and in some regards, crucial and necessary tool for most businesses in our modern economy is their website. A website creates interest and traffic for a business and provides necessary information, resources, and sales. Many businesses put a huge amount of thought and investment into their website to create something that not only provides these necessary resources, information, and sales, but also represents the identity and image of the company or individual.
One thing businesses don’t often think about when developing their website, however, is ease of access for all individuals, including those with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was developed in 1990 to ensure that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as anyone else. Businesses that fall under Title I, i.e. those that operate 20 or more weeks per year with at least 15 full time employees, are covered by the ADA, as well as “public accommodation” businesses under Title III, i.e., businesses that are open to the public or that provide goods or services to the public.
These covered businesses must make accommodations for people with disabilities of various kinds—for example, ensuring that their building is accessible to those having physical disabilities. Now that the Internet is so widely used, ADA compliance also applies to websites and even mobile apps for companies that meet these requirements of the ADA. This means that your website needs to be similarly accessible to people who have physical disabilities, including impaired hearing or vision. Websites with significant inaccessible components can be seen as discriminatory against people with disabilities, in violation of Title III of the ADA, so it is important for companies to consider a compliance plan for their website.
What does an ADA-compliant website look like, exactly? There are no clear ADA regulations that spell out exactly what compliant web content is, but businesses that fall under ADA Title I or ADA Title III are required to develop a website that offers "reasonable accessibility" to people with disabilities. However, there are a number of steps one can take, based on federal websites and legal decisions, to bring their website in line with the ADA.
Here are some common ways businesses address accessibility issues associated with their web content:
Creating alt tags for all images, videos and audio files: Alt tags allow users with disabilities to read or hear alternative descriptions of content they might not otherwise be able to view. Alt tags describe the object itself and, generally, the purpose it serves on the site.
Creating text transcripts for video and audio content: Text transcripts help hearing-impaired users understand content that would otherwise be inaccessible to them.
Identifying the site's language in header code: Making it clear what language the site should be read in helps users who utilize text readers. Text readers can identify those codes and function accordingly.
Offering alternatives and suggestions when users encounter input errors: If a user with a disability is encountering input errors because of their need to navigate the website differently, the site should automatically offer recommendations to them as to how to better navigate toward the content they need.
Creating a consistent, organized layout: Menus, links and buttons should be organized in such a way that they are clearly delineated from one another and are easily navigated throughout the entire site.
Improving Contrast & Viewability: Having alternative options with higher contrast and more distinguished foreground and background options, can make it easier for visual limitations.
Keyboard Accessibility: All functionalities of a website should be able to be engaged with using just a keyboard for those who have problems with a mouse.
While it is important from a legal standpoint to ensure that a website is compliant with the ADA, making these changes can also have other added benefits such as:
Increasing the Target Audience – Increased accessibility allows for a wider variety of potential customers to visit and use a website.
Search Engine Optimization – Search engines are evolving to crawl pages with more human intention. If a website is built in such a way to improve access and comply with the ADA, such as meta tagging, alternative image text, and video transcripts will improve search engine optimization.
Better Overall Usability – Creating a more operable and navigable website will ultimately benefit all users. A website that follows the guidelines will likely convert more leads across the board, because users will trust that they can always easily find the content they need.
While ADA website compliance is a bit subjective and open to interpretation, by making a good-faith effort to achieve reasonable accessibility for users with disabilities now, businesses can get ahead of the regulatory curve in developing a compliant website and avoid potential lawsuits. Moreover, designing a compliant website can lead to more sales and better ranking on search engines. If you have any questions or concerns about your website, or you have been contacted by another party saying that you are not in compliance, we at Creative Law Network are here to help and can advise on how to protect your business.
Free Event Alert!
Denver’s vibrant neighborhoods are alive with street murals. These large-format art projects are valuable in our community, and they belie a number of important legal issues, including copyright, property ownership, use of street murals in other artistic or commercial depictions of street murals, and artists' moral rights in their expressions.
As part of CRUSH WALLS 2020, Zach Warkentin of Warkentin LLC and Dave Ratner of Creative Law Network will present on fundamental copyright and other legal issues for street muralists, property owners, and anyone else involved in street art. This event is presented in coordination with the Colorado Bar Association's Sports and Entertainment Section and RiNo Art District.