Get Your Vote On! Attorney General

Get Your Vote On! Republican and Democratic Candidates for Attorney General

MALC has had a great working relationship with the current Attorney General’s administration and we hope to continue this with the next administration. The Attorney General’s office oversees and crafts policy that directly impacts artists of all disciplines. Such key issues as labor law and the protection of intellectual property fall under this Office’s watch. These are critical issues to our community and it is of the greatest importance that artists have a place at this particular policy table.

The Democratic Attorney General primary race, by all accounts, is being dubbed a very competitive one. There are two impressive candidates running to be on the November ballot.  Every vote matters in that race, so MALC encourages our community to take the time to learn about each of the Democratic candidates.  There is no race on the Republican side. Only one candidate is running and it is almost all but certain that candidate will be on the November ballot.

MALC sent out a brief questionnaire to all three of the candidates and followed up with emails and phone calls.*  We greatly appreciate the two Democratic candidates taking the time from their busy campaign to complete it.  We have created pdfs of the candidates answers that share the same formatting for visual consistency. We have linked to all three of the candidates’ campaign websites and we have also included the questions MALC asked and the informational links that were included in the questionnaires at the end of this post. MALC does not endorse candidates for office.

The candidates for Attorney General (in alphabetical order) are:

Maura Healey (D)  Link to answered questionnaire:
(PDF)-  http://www.artistsunderthedome.org/Healey.pdf
Link to campaign website: http://www.maurahealey.com/

John Miller (R)  No questionnaire was returned.
Link to campaign website: http://millerforag.com/

Warren Tolman (D)  Link to answered questionnaire: (PDF)- http://www.artistsunderthedome.org/Tolman.pdf
Link to campaign website: http://warrentolman.com/

Again, remember to mark your calendars: The Massachusetts Republican and Democratic primaries are September 9th.* To find out where to vote: http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.aspx

On Monday we will release the answers provided by the candidates for Treasurer!

Best,
Kathleen Bitetti, Artist and MALC Co-Founder
John Weeks, Writer and MALC Steering Committee Member

*Please note there was no phone number on Republican candidate’s website. MALC sent several follow up emails and also tried to follow up with this candidate via Facebook messaging to no avail. 

**From our June 9th MALC blog post: “There will be primaries in September for candidates of the Democratic and the Republican parties who are running for statewide positions. The winners of those primaries will be on the November ballot for the general election. Those candidates running as unenrolled (also known as independents), and who have met the 10,000 certified signature requirement, won’t have a primary in September. Instead, their names will appear on the November ballot along with those candidates who won their respective party’s primaries.” http://artistsunderthedome.org/malc/news/massachusetts-governors-race-update/

** DATE AND TIME OF POST: Friday, 8/22/14 at 11:24 a.m. 

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MALC Questions for Attorney General Candidates:

(Note: Questions 1-3 can be answered with a yes or no, but please feel free to elaborate beyond  one word answer) 

1. MALC has had a great working relationship with the current AG’s administration. Would you continue this open door policy to MALC and by extension to the arts and creative economy communities?

2. Labor Issues impact artists of all disciplines. The current AG’s labor team has been very supportive in ensuring artists of all disciplines are not exploited.

a. One key labor issue facing our community is the treatment/exploitation of adjunct professors.

Would you be willing to work with MALC and other stakeholders to better address this issue?

b. The Massachusetts  Independent Contractor 2004 law change has been an issue that has been negatively impacting artists of all disciplines and those in the Creative Economy. This law change made it next to impossible for people to be classified as independent contractors in this State. Once you are classified as an employee, you do not own or control your intellectual property. It is the property of the employer. Many artists of all disciplines and others need and want to be classified as independent contracts to retain total control over their intellectual property and by extension their livelihoods.  MALC, along with Labor and the AG’s office,  have been trying to solution to this issue.

Would you and, by extension, your office work with MALC, our friends in labor and other stakeholders, to craft a solution to this key issue?

Key background info on the IC issue- http://www.artistsunderthedome.org/MAindependent_contractor.html

One recent piece of legislation MALC worked on to address the issue:  https://malegislature.gov/Bills/188/Senate/S875

3. Intellectual Property is the 21st frontier and needs safeguarding. Identity theft is one example that most are familiar with. Copyright protection is critical for artists of all disciplines.

a. Would you and your office work with MALC to better ensure and advocate that copyright protection (as well as the monetary and moral rights that go with it) is upheld and strengthened in our changing and expanding digital age?

b. Would you use the power of your office to promote the benefits of copyright and sponsor public education on proper use and etiquette surrounding creative works of all kinds?

c. Would you and your office support  state legislation that protects the commercial value of artists, entertainers and other notable personalities?  This would allow a person and their family to protect the use of a person’s images or personality in advertising, etc.. Thirteen states have enacted statues that specify a transferable right to publicity that survives death.

Link to the most recent piece of legislation on this issue:  https://malegislature.gov/Bills/188/Senate/S2022

4. Is there anything else you would like to share in regards to your policy and/or platforms that directly impact artists of all disciplines and by extension the arts and creative economy communities?