Greetings,

As I alluded to last week, there is a second hearing this week for another important Massachusetts bill, Senate Bill 1800 – An Act to the Right to Publicity. If  passed, SB 1800 will provide needed intellectual property protection for MA artists of all disciplines in regard to controlling the use of their image, namesake or “brand” in advertising and in other commercial uses while they are alive and for their estate/legacy.

The public hearing for the bill is Thursday, January 28th, 2010- 1pm in room A-1 at the Massachusetts State House in Boston. It is being heard by the Judiciary Committee and to send in email testimony send it to: Keith.Macfarland(at)state.ma.us – it should be sent in no later than Friday, January 29th.

Please be aware that there is a new and stronger draft of the legislation, but it has yet to be posted on the state’s website.  To see the “older version”  of the legislation go to:

http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st01/st01800.htm

For more information on SB 1800 and how to write your testimony see:

http://www.artistsunderthedome.org/SB1800.html

Sincerely,

Kathleen Bitetti
Artist & Co-Founder of ArtistsUndertheDome.org

PS – If you have yet to do so- PLEASE  send in your written testimony in favor of HB1844- An Act Relative to Independent Contractors. This is a key bill to protect the intellectual property rights of artists of all disciplines and freelancers.  A MA 2004 state law change has negatively impacted these needed rights and HB1844 will fix these issues.

The public hearing for HB 1844 is Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 10:30am in room A-2 at the Massachusetts State House in Boston, MA.

More info on HB1844 and where to send in your testimony for HB1844:

http://www.artistsunderthedome.org/MAindependent_contractor.html