Thank you for your support of the creative community. Now more than ever, it is essential that we as a community come together to help those in need.

If you are interested in taking on one of these pro bono assignments, please contact one of our Legal Service Coordinators at [email protected]. 

If you have any questions about representing a pro bono PVLA or PA Patent client, please do not hesitate to contact our Executive Director.

NOTE: attorneys should be sure to submit a volunteer application before signing on to take a pro bono case with PVLA.

Please see below for a list of available pro bono projects for low income artists, artist collectives, and small budget arts & cultural organizations or Download the full case listing here (PDF).

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  • Case 9571 (Full Service): Client is a filmmaker and animator who has signed a licensing agreement from a major network for a short film documentary she helped to produce. Client, who shares the film rights with the film's director, seeks counsel to advise on how to comply with the “chain of title” conditions in the contract.
  • Case 9590 (Full Service): Client is an individual artist impelled by his experience as a victim of gun violence and wrongful incarceration who turned to creative self-expression as an outlet to process his experiences and as a means of helping others. Client seeks counsel regarding IP protections for, and licensing of, his multitude of creations that include films based on scripts he wrote while incarcerated.
  • Case 9698 (Full Service): Client is an independent composer and musicologist who completed his own reconstruction of an early twentieth-century opera following 15 years of forensic research. Client seeks legal advice regarding various infringements of these works by a major American symphony orchestra.
  • Case 9718 (Full Service): Client is an actor and filmmaker whose film is currently on an independent streaming platform. Client requests counsel on potential copyright infringement by another film streaming on various other platforms that features similar characters, themes, costumes, props, dialogue, and music as those in client’s film. Client is the sole owner of all rights in the film and has registered copyrights to the film and script.
  • Case 9721 (Full Service): Client is a cultural center that provides afterschool support for children and youth. Client seeks trademark protection for the name and logo client uses in its unique, combined dance and computer coding program that is designed to introduce young girls to STEAM.
  • Case 9742 (Full Service): Client is the owner of an online fashion brand seeking trademark protection for their brand name and counsel regarding possible remedies for trademark infringement.
  • Case 9754 (Consultation): Client is an artist from the Philadelphia area who will be working on a project with a curator in Philadelphia to create an exhibition and perhaps also a year-round series of programs. Client's project is inspired, in part, by the work of another artist. Client requests a one-hour consultation to discuss any legal issues arising from the prior artist's work, as well as issues generally regarding title clearance/copyright and collaboration rights.

NON PROFIT BUSINESS FORMATION

  • Case 9588 (Full Service): Client incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2022 to foster community-building and creative self-expression through inclusive, event-based, community art-making activities. Client requests assistance with completing IRS Form 1023 to obtain federal recognition as a non-profit.
  • Case 9671 (Full Service): Client is a Philadelphia-based 501(c)(3) organization that produces performances, classes, and trips that celebrate the arts and culture of Bahia, Brazil. Client’s work overseas is within its mission to promote the importance and value of the Afro-Brazilian culture and traditions. Client seeks counsel regarding the domestic (i.e., U.S.) ramifications of executing some of its programming in Brazil.
  • Case 9706 (Full Service): Client is a recently formed, music label/publishing LLC that currently focuses on recording and publishing music but plans to evolve into a multimedia company that will also market merchandise, tours, and film projects. Client requests legal assistance in drafting an operating agreement for the company.
  • Case 9709 (Full Service): Client is an independent musician seeking assistance with creating a non-profit based in the United States that will raise money to benefit, and organize trips to, a Peru-based cultural organization that uses music to strengthen its rural community and build bridges.
  • Case 9752 (Full Service): Client is a new arts organization that aims to provide Spanish-language technical assistance to arts administrators. The organization is seeking an attorney that will help draft nonprofit articles of incorporation and bylaws, secure an EIN, and assist with its application for 501(c)(3) status.
  • Case 9753 (Full Service): Client is an individual who provides after-school sewing classes for low-income, middle school girls to develop basic sewing skills as well as good character and self-sufficiency. Client seeks legal assistance to establish a nonprofit corporation to house Client’s sewing project.
  • Case 9761 (Full Service): Client is a traveling children's theater that provides accessible and free performances for children and their families. The theater is seeking an attorney to assist it in drafting nonprofit articles of incorporation and bylaws, securing an EIN, and assisting with its application for 501(c)(3) status.
  • Case 9765 (Full Service): Client is a self-taught, freehand, visual artist who wants to start selling their art. Client requests an attorney to advise on, and assistance with establishing, the appropriate entity for Client’s needs.

CONTRACTS

  • Case 1736 (Full Service): Client is a local non-profit organization, run by first-generation immigrant women, dedicated to providing access to new children’s publications promoting diverse cultural and linguistic experiences, helping to grow school libraries, and supporting teachers in their professional interests. The organization runs a competition for cultural family recipes for potential inclusion in a cookbook publication. Client is seeking an attorney to review the rules and guidelines for their competition and assist them in drafting a template agreement to govern the ownership of recipe submissions.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

  • Case 1838 (Full Service): Client is a nonprofit organization that produces an annual music festival. Client purchased rights related to the festival in a 2020 agreement. A former board member of client started running a separate music festival in 2021 with a similar name, and client is seeking counsel on the ability to use the name of the festival (along with the goodwill associated with it). 
  • Case 9593 (Full Service): Client is an independent photographer seeking an attorney to assist in the recovery of damages from a major streaming service that displayed client’s photograph without authorization in a popular docuseries broadcast by the streaming service.
  • Case 9668 (Full Service): Client is a former, long-term, part-time adjunct faculty member of a local educational institution who was terminated and has reason to believe, from sources at the school he deems reliable, that the school terminated him based on unsubstantiated rumors that may have implicated matters associated with the “MeToo” movement. Client requests counsel regarding (1) his rights with respect to his employment termination and (2) any potential cause of action he may have for defamation.
  • Case 9693 (Full Service): Client is a founder of a curated market that values creating settings for original work to be appreciated through the organization of local events. Client was approached by a private membership club to embark on a creative partnership for the purpose of showcasing an exhibition in celebration of Black excellence through the works of Black artists in Philly. Client took concrete steps to execute the event, but the club cancelled the event within days of its planned opening and terminated the creative partnership. Client seeks counsel regarding the potential legal claims arising from the terminated event and partnership.

Estate Administration

  • Case 9725 (Full Service): Client is seeking legal counsel to assist her in recovering the portfolio of fine art work created by her late father, an accomplished photographer. Client, the sole survivor of her father, was issued Letters of Administration for the estate but she was unsuccessful in a small claims court action she brought against the individual in possession of the artwork.

Real Estate

  • Case 9597 (Full Service): Client is an artist-owned and operated co-operative that owns a live/work building in the historic Germantown area of Philadelphia. The Board is seeking counsel concerning its options for addressing the ongoing pattern of hostile and disruptive behavior of one of its members that is negatively affecting other members. The Board seeks advice concerning appropriate legal remedies, including eviction, filing of a nuisance lawsuit, etc. as well as the possibility of a negotiated buy-out.