Welcome to season five, episode 26 of The Abundant Artist, the show that dispels the myth of “the starving artist” and shares how you can live an abundant life as an artist and make a living from your talent, one interview at a time.

Joining Cory in today’s podcast is Kiffanie Stahle, the “friendly” lawyer who helps artists get the legal side of their art businesses in order. A firm believer in focusing on the “why” rather than the “what”, Kiffanie advises artists to first decide what they actually need to meet their business goals, rather than just investing big in legal matters that may not be required at all in their specific circumstances.

“I have always felt responsible for saying that if we’re going to spend a thousand dollars on the trademark, it needs to be worth it. It needs to move our businesses forward.” — Kiffanie Stahle

In this episode, Kiffanie spells out the six basic rules that every professional artist must adhere to, to avoid getting caught in the legal net. She mentions some free templates available on her website that may be a good starting point for artists just beginning their art career. Kiffanie also talks about how easy it could be to gather tax and other legal information in your state – often just a phone call away.

Tune in to today’s episode for more legal insights, a bit about Kiffanie’s minimalist life traveling the western US since 2020, and her goal to make life easier for small creative businesses. Well, legally at least.

In this episode:

[1:12] Cory asks Kiffanie to tell the TAA audience a little about how she started her journey as a lawyer helping artists with legal dos and don’ts.
[3:00] Kiffanie reminisces about how she founded the artist’s J.D. as a place to provide legal tools and resources for artists, and how it has now evolved into a membership community, offering books, courses and templates.
[4:38] How the year 2020 made a big life change for Kiffanie, and how her minimalist lifestyle impacted her legal thoughts.
[6:39] Is getting a trademark necessary?
[7:00] Kiffanie believes that there are only six things that are required of artists when it comes to the legal side of their small creative businesses.
[9:49] Kiffanie explains how a simple email can also be a valid contract in the eyes of the law.
[11:39] Cory asks Kiffanie how Entrepreneur Magazine has a trademark, given that a business name that merely describes what you do is not eligible for a trademark.
[16:15] When do you need to do more legal stuff, if you have covered the six necessary tasks already?
[17:54] Kiffanie has a free template on her website which artists can use to create a really simple, easy and readable privacy policy and terms of service.
[20:04] Cory asks Kiffanie to quickly define GDPR and CCPA.
[22:02] If your creative stuff is primarily targeted at children, there’s a whole lot of separate laws that you will need to be cognisant of.
[23:25] Cory asks Kiffanie to explain what one needs to do to comply with the various tax requirements.
[24:18] Kiffanie often recommends her clients to get in touch with their respective Chambers of Commerce for understanding the tax rules and regulations applicable to them.
[31:39] At what point should artists start reviewing their tax affairs on a regular basis?
[33:30] Who are enrolled agents, and how are they different from CPAs?
[35:35] To decide what legal tasks you must complete, you must know where your business is going.
[37:29] Kiffanie has been out of social media for three years now – this is one of her experiments in life minimalism.
[38:22] Cory asks Kiffanie how artists would get in touch with her if they are curious to learn more about legal matters or need legal help.
[40:06] What is Kiffanie’s takeaway from spending so much time working with creative people?
[42:08] Cory thanks Kiffanie for a super-informative episode!

Resources mentioned:

the artist’s J.D.
Stahle Law website
Kiffanie’s Website Policy Mad Libs
Kiffanie’s Legal Roadmap book
Kiffanie’s Join me for coffee each Friday

About the guest:

Kiffanie Stahle AKA Kiff is the friendly legal eagle behind the artist’s J.D. A place designed to add ease to the legalese of running your art business. She’s a firm believer that you can protect your ass(ets) without legal confusion. When she’s not geeking out on the law, you can find her and her pup Ozzy puttering around the western United States in their travel trailer. And spending lots of time sitting on her “porch”, hiking, mountain biking, birdwatching, knitting, working on her National Park cross stitch collection or badly singing while playing the ukulele around the campfire.