Who We Are and What We Do

Creative Rights is a community-based nonprofit organization providing free legal representation and coordination of support services to the creative community. We serve artists and creators throughout Michigan, with a focus on the Detroit and Ann Arbor areas.

Our vision is realizing the full potential of the creative community and sparking a renaissance in creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Too often artists overestimate the restrictiveness of the law and approach it only when in need of crisis management. Instead of viewing the law as an option of last resort, we believe it should be a tool available throughout the creative process that increases the number of choices available to creators, giving them a better understanding of the law and greater exposure to business models that may better fit their needs on a given project.

Creative Rights empowers emerging artists and creators by giving them affordable legal advice and representation from attorneys with a strong background in the arts. Our attorneys are committed to simplifying the law and making it more comprehensible in areas such as copyright, patent, trademark, licensing, and contracts. Creative Rights works with local arts organizations to integrate free legal services and the option to pursue alternative business models with existing professional development and learning opportunities. Creative Rights works with area universities and law schools to provide students with opportunities to gain hands-on experience working with artists and to encourage the development of entrepreneurial and professional skills. Creative Rights also works in conjunction with national arts, technology, and IP-related organizations in order to implement its community-based pilot programs.