Meet Marissa Camp
Posted Aug 28, 2025 | News & Events,
We are pleased to announce that Marissa Camp is our new part-time Associate Director. Her primary responsibilities are managing our referral service and college outreach program. She succeeds Brianna McIntyre. Born and raised in Ferguson, Camp holds a BA in studio art with a certificate in illustration from Webster...
The Power Shift from Label to Artists
Posted Aug 26, 2025 | Law Student Blog,
By Alexis Trimm, Honors College of Arts and Science Student at the University of Missouri-Columbia The music industry has long been shaped by a rocky relationship between artists and record labels. For decades, labels acted as the gatekeepers of music in exchange for owning master recordings and controlling the...
Why Mediation Remains Underutilized
Posted Aug 24, 2025 | Law Student Blog,
By Omowunmi (Wunmi) Odeja, Washington University School of Law, Juris Doctor Candidate, 2027 Although mediation can be a valuable tool for resolving intellectual property (IP) and other disputes, it is underutilized by creatives here in St. Louis. Mediation offers flexibility and freedom, something unique in its nature, qualities rarely...
Copyright vs. Campaigns: A Breakdown of Eddy Grant’s “Electric Avenue” vs. Donald Trump
Posted Aug 24, 2025 | Law Student Blog,
By Alexis Trimm, Honors College of Arts and Science Student at the University of Missouri-Columbia In a legal dispute between an artist and a politician, Guyanese-British singer Eddy Grant successfully sued the Trump campaign for copyright infringement after his song “Electric Avenue” was used without permission in a 2020...
HITS Act: New Tax Law Will Benefit Independent Musicians and Producers
Posted Aug 14, 2025 | Law Student Blog,
By Olivia Miller, Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School, Juris Doctor Candidate, 2027 The music industry is celebrating the recent passage of a new federal tax law that will allow independent musicians and producers to deduct up to $150,000 in sound recording expenses incurred within a single tax year....
The Legality of Livelihood: Protecting Artists in the Music Industry
Posted Aug 06, 2025 | Law Student Blog,
By Anya Liu, Pre-Law Student and English Major at The University of California, Berkeley “I told myself if I ever won a Grammy and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music,” Chappell Roan declared, during her acceptance speech for the title...
The Legal Landscape of DEI
Posted Jul 25, 2025 | News & Events,
August 6 at 4:00 PM (free webinar) Recipients of FY26 Missouri Arts Council grants must navigate a complicated legal landscape in response to President Trump’s DEI Executive Orders (EOs). This free webinar will provide an overview of the EOs and longstanding workplace civil rights and anti-discrimination laws. It will...
Piracy is Piracy: How Copyright Infringement Turned Disney and Universal Into Allies
Posted Jul 23, 2025 | Law Student Blog,
By Olivia Miller, Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School, Juris Doctor Candidate, 2027 For nearly a century, The Walt Disney Company and Universal Studios have been major competitors in the entertainment industry. In 1927, Walt Disney and his animators created a character called “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.” Disney would...
VLAA Seeks New Executive Director
Posted Jul 16, 2025 | News & Events,
St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts (VLAA) seeks an Executive Director to lead our thriving organization into the next chapter. Working with a committed Board of Directors and talented staff, the Executive Director will implement an ambitious vision for VLAA’s continued success, cultivate relationships with donors, partners, and...