Archive for 2022

Artist Visa Updates, Force Majeure Clauses, Streaming Licenses, and Deep Thoughts

Thursday, December 8th, 2022

 

LAW & DISORDER

Performing Arts Division

December 8, 2022

 

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

> Artist Visa Updates <

> Force Majeure Clauses <

> Streaming Licenses <  

> Congratulations! <

> Deep Thoughts < 

Artist Visa Updates 

• Current USCIS Service Center Processing Times

Vermont Service Center:

Standard Processing: 4 – 6 weeks

Premium Processing: 9 – 10 days

California Service Center:

Standard Processing: 2 – 4 MONTHS!

Premium Processing: 13 – 15 days!

•  Most US Consulates continue to experience significant backlogs with regard to visa stamp appointments. Some have no interview appointments for 60 – 90 days whereas others are granting interview waivers, but with no consistency between one consulate and another. Please factor this in when making bookings and budgets. In other words, if your conductor isn’t performing in the US until April 2023, but has only set aside 2 days in early January when he can make himself available to apply for a visa, start looking for a guest conductor. Specific information for each consulate can be found on that consulate’s website…and except for citizens of certain countries, anyone can apply for a US visa stamp at any US Consulate.

•  As of August 11, 2022, USCIS no longer requires petitioners to submit a duplicate copy of Form I-129 or a duplicate copy of any supporting documentation unless USCIS specifically asks for it. (Whilst I’d like to think this was to diminish the impact of deforestation on climate change, it’s more likely due to the fact that Sauron has discontinued his policy of allowing USCIS to toss its extra paper into Mount Doom.)

•  USCIS has issued a new edition of the I-907 form. Starting January 30, 2023, USCIS will only accept the 11/03/22 edition. There are no changes. It’s the same form with a different date at the bottom. However, accomplishing this critical assurance of national security required two filibusters, three Congressional hearings, and an armed insurrection at the Golden Corral in Bent Fork, Arkansas which dared to close its Sunday buffet an hourly early.

•  Yes, it is still possible to obtain artist visas for Russians. So long as they can get to a U.S. consulate, there are no bans or restrictions on Russians. The challenge is that there are no US Consulates in Russia, some EU countries will not allow Russians to enter, and the EU won’t allow any Russian planes to fly over its airspace. So, they just need to get to a consulate. If they are already in the EU, then they get to face the same visa insanity as everyone else.

Legal Issue of the Month:

Force Majeure Is Not The Same as Cancellation

If an engagement contract contains no option for cancellation or termination, then it cannot be cancelled or terminated without mutual consent. Otherwise, whichever party cancels will be in breach and potentially owe damages to the other party. Parties can always negotiate cancellation clauses under which either party can cancel an engagement under certain circumstances and by paying cancellation fees; but, if they don’t, they remain forcibly conjoined.

However, Force Majeure/Acts of God clauses are something different. These are contract clauses which say that if something happens beyond the control of either party (typically, fire, flood, illness, royal demise, etc.) which makes it impossible for one of them to honour the contract, then that party can void the contract without owing damages or fees to the other. In other words, whereas a cancellation clause may require a party to pay bail to cancel a concert, a Force Majeure/Act of God clause is like a “get out of jail free card.”

Parties can use a contract to define exactly what constitutes Acts of God (ie: a hurricane as opposed to a backed up toilet, illnesses supported by a doctor’s note, etc.). However, because of COVID, the economy, and genera insecurity, we are seeing more and more instances of parties trying to squeeze cancellation penalties or payments into Force Majeure/Act of God clauses. Presenters are claiming that poor ticket sales or lack of funding should be considered God’s fault whereas artists are claiming that if even if the concert hall is overrun by zombies, they are entitled to non-refundable deposits and penalties if the venue cancels. While parties should take every opportunity to explore and negotiate cancellation clauses with as many draconian conditions as they could possibly want, these are not Acts of God/Force Majeure clauses.

Why is this anything other than a miniscule, legalistic subtlety? Because if a party cancels an engagement contract because of a legitimate inability to present the engagement that could not otherwise have been foreseen, a court will not enforce penalties or damages regardless of what the contract says. Moreover, most state and local municipalities (particularly colleges and universities) are prohibited by State Law from having to pay non-refundable deposits or fixed cancellation fees, regardless of the reason for the cancellation. So, like everything else, if you believe the only force that separates your orchestra from insolvency is divine intervention, you’re going to need to talk this one through.

Dear Law & Disorder:

Actual Questions we get asked and the answers people don’t want! 

Streaming Rights & Licenses

Dear Law and Disorder:

We have two questions with regard to live streaming some of our concerts and recitals. We, of course, have paid the ASCAP and BMI licenses/fees to cover the rights for live performances. Does paying those licenses for live performances also cover streaming the concert live? The other issue involves archiving the recordings of the concerts, or leaving them on the website for a time after the concert so patrons (e.g., parents of students or any other interested parties) can view the concert at a later date if they had a conflict the day of the original concert and were unable to watch it live. Would this practice also be covered by the licenses or fees we’ve already paid? Is this a grey area in which the law has not yet caught up with the technology, or would this practice be a violation of copyright?

ASCAP and BMI are two of the many Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) which issue licenses to present live performances. Whilst some licenses for live performances also cover the right to stream the concert live, others do not. As with all rights, you only get what you ask and/or pay for. So, if your license also included the right to stream live concerts, then your license covers that. On the other hand, if you only paid for live concerts, then it does not. You need to check the license terms and agreement you received from ASCAP and BMI. (However, not all composers/songwriters below to ASCAP or BMI, so you may need licenses from other PROs as well.

With regard to the issue of “archiving the recordings of the concerts”, the good news is that it is not a grey area at all. The bad news for you may be that it is not a grey area at all. Making any audio or audio/visual recording of a concert is not covered by PROs at all. Such rights must be obtained from the performers and, unless they are performing their own, original music, the right to record the music must be obtained directly from the composer/songwriter or their publisher. There is no “inherent right” to make a recording of any performance or composition at any time under any circumstances for any purpose without the permission of (a) the composer/songwriter of the music and (b) the performers themselves.

CONGRATULATIONS! 

It is with exhilarating enthusiasm that we congratulate Monica Felkel, a legendary icon of the classical music and performing arts industry, on the establishment of her own boutique management and consulting firm.

Monica Felkel Creative Partners provides Artist Management, Artistic & Strategic Consulting, and Project Management & Development.

 

“Everything we do is guided by a passion for classical music and the performing arts and a commitment to providing each artist and cultural institution with the support, guidance, expertise, and innovation they need to achieve their artistic goals and aspirations.”
Monica J. Felkel, President

We look forward to working with her and her distinguished roster of creative partners in offering her clients a comprehensive range of services and expertise unparalleled in the field.

CLICK HERE LEARN MORE ABOUT MONICA FELKEL CREATIVE PARTNERS

 

Deep Thoughts 

 

 

“Everyone seems normal, until you get to know them.”

 

 

Send Us Your Questions! 

Let us know what you’d like to hear more about.
Send us an email, post on Facebook, mail us a letter, dispatch a messenger, raise a smoke signal, reach out telepathically, or use whatever method works for you.

GG Arts Law provides a comprehensive range of legal services and strategic support for the performing arts, including: Artist Visas, Taxes, and Touring; Rights & Licensing; Negotiations & Representation; Contracts; Business & Non-Profit Organization & Management; Project Management; and Strategic Consulting & Planning.

 

OFFICIAL LEGALESE:

THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE!

The purpose of this blog is to provide general advice and guidance, not legal advice. Please consult with an attorney familiar with your specific circumstances, facts, challenges, medications, psychiatric disorders, past-lives, karmic debt, and anything else that may impact your situation before drawing any conclusions, deciding upon a course of action, sending a threatening email, filing a lawsuit, or basically doing anything that may in any way rely upon an assumption that we know what we are talking about or one size fits all!

 

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Posted in Contracts, Law and Disorder: Performing Arts Division, Licensing, Music Rights, Uncategorized, Visas | Comments Closed

A New Vision for the festival in Evian

Wednesday, November 30th, 2022

Frank Cadenhead, Nov. 30, 2022

Starting with the opening on June 28, the Rencontres Musicales d’Evian will likely have a higher profile among festivals around Lake Geneva (Lac Léman in French). The violin star Renaud Caupçon has just been named Artistic Director and it will take place in Evian-les-Bains. The hall, La Grange au Lac, is undergoing a seven month restoration and an enlargement of the stage. It will not be by accident that the first concert on the new stage will be by the Berlin Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta on the podium. This will begin the 30th year of the festival.

In an interview, Caupçon reflected on his first encounter, at 18, with the Rencontres Musicale, at the time directed by Mstislav Rostropovich. His master class with Jaime Laredo was an opportunity to enjoy the program, the location, the performers and the mix of generations. This experience Caupçon hopes to repeat with grand stars like Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos, Martha Argerich, Daniel Harding, Tugan Sokhiev and others to associate with the young performing talent in Andràs Schiff’s program, Building Bridges, the Menuhin Academy and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra among others. “For the public it will also be a pleasure to discover new faces and to see new talent emerging.” he said.

Caupçon is also Artistic Director of the Chamber Orchestre of Lausanne and the Sommets Musicaux in Gstaad, high in the Swiss Alps. Details of the 2023 festival in Evian can now be found at lagrangeaulac.com.

Posted in An American in Paris | Comments Closed

First Concert in a Long While

Thursday, October 27th, 2022

Oct. 27, 2022 – by Frank Cadenhead

A few months ago, I made my first musical outing in more than a year. (The next one is this Sunday – Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony appropriately). The first one was… ahh… problematic – not with musical issues but with my age and a new society. The concert was 11 June – the final one of the 2021-22 Paris season of the Vienna Philharmonic. It is always in the Theatre des Champs Elysees – their preferred venue in Paris.

Traveling there, I usually get off the Metro at the Etoile station. When you walk up the stairs, the Arc de Triomphe fills your entire view. I walk down the Champs-Elysees and turn on Ave. George V and pass the famed hotel. The theater is only a few blocks from there but it is maybe a 15 or 20 minute walk and I am getting old. I decide to take Uber instead.

The driver offered to be there after the end of the concert and ask me what was a good time. I looked at the program: Gubaidulina’s Märchen-poem, the Shostakovitch 9th Symphony and, after the intermission, Dvořák’s Sixth. It was certainly not more than two hours from the 8:30 start. My estimation was on the mark, the concert ended at 10:25.

The orchestra was, as usual, in fine form and obviously in rhythm with their guest conductor, Andris Nelsons. It ended with heavy applause and bravos – an applause that went on and on. After the forth bow, Nelsons turned and commenced an encore, some Viennese polka work I didn’t recognize. This went on and on. The applause at the end was even more celebratory until finally the orchestra stood as a group and began to leave the stage, some 30 minutes after the end of the program. It was my luck that my Uber driver had the patience to wait for me.

On the way out, which was crowded and took more time, I was surprised to see that my suit and tie was the rare exception in the audience. A few had ties and a sports jacket but even they were the exception. Even the women seemed to have dressed down… and this is for the Vienna Philharmonic!

When I brought the ticket for this event on the internet a few days before, I was surprised to find tickets available in the orchestra, row 7 center. It was 165 euros but I was happy to see them available. Before the concert commenced a teenager came in and sprawled next to me in one of those 5 remaining empty seats. I then remembered that the under 25 and over 65 set can often buy unsold tickets an hour before the concert for 20 euros. Unsold tickets for a Vienna Phil concert? Maybe I will try this the next time.

Posted in An American in Paris | Comments Closed

Backlogs at US Consulates, New USCIS forms, Contract Entirety Clauses, and Board Term Limits

Wednesday, June 15th, 2022 
LAW & DISORDER:

Performing Arts Division

June 16, 2022

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

» Backlogs at US Consulates «
» New USCIS forms «
» Contract Entirety Clauses «
» Board Term Limits «

Current USCIS Service Center Processing Times:

Vermont Service Center: 
Standard processing: 4 – 8 weeks
Premium processing: 9 – 10 days

California Service Center: 
Standard Processing 2 – 4 MONTHS! 
Premium Processing 13 – 14 days!
US Consulates Are Significantly Backlogged!
The current slow down at the California Service Centre notwithstanding, the real bad news is that many—not all, but many–U.S. Consulates continue to experience significant backlogs. Artists approved for visas are finding that it can take weeks or months to have their visa stamps issued by a U.S. Consulate. Just within the last few weeks, an artist approved for an O-1 visa found she could not get an appointment for a visa stamp at the Paris Consulate until January 2023!

Whilst some consulates have expanded their interview waiver programme, many continue to be wildly inconsistent with regard to how this is implemented, including whether to grant interview waivers at all. For example, an artist was recently informed by the U.S. Consulate in London that, though he qualified for an interview waiver, it could take “several weeks or months” before he would be able to submit the application and get his visa stamp. Others have found it has taken 3 – 4 weeks for Consulates to return passports with visa stamps. Consulates also continue to be wildly inconsistent in how they grant requests for emergency appointments, with arts visas, of course, sedimenting to the bottom of the bin.

Whilst it is still “officially” possible for anyone, regardless of citizenship, to apply for a visa at any U.S. Consulate in the world where one can get an appointment, some consulates—purportedly to manage workload—are only accepting applications from citizens or residents of the country in which the Consulate is located.

In response to manifold complaints and queries from all sectors, the U.S. Department of State has issued several urgently indeterminate statements, a synopsis of which essentially being as follows:

“Yes, we know there’s a problem. We are very sorry. We are doing our best. We have a lot on our plates rights now. We are currently implementing many solutions which, due to national security, we cannot divulge other than to re-assure you in the vaguest possible terms that these new solutions will be more effective than our previous solutions which in hindsight should have been seen as imprudent in the expectation of their efficacy. Will it help if we continue to blame COVID? We care about you. Really. Every effort is being made towards prioritizing a scheme pursuant to which visa applications will be prioritized based upon a system of discretionary prioritization. The wizard says go away!”

Devastatingly, we are increasingly encountering engagements having to be cancelled or rescheduled where visa petitions were approved, but artists could not get their visas in time to travel. As such, please take this into consideration when planning your timelines and budgets. If you are planning anything for fall 2022 which depends upon a non-US artist, you would be wise to (1) check the current application procedures and timelines for the consulate where the artist will be applying for their visa stamp and (2) seriously consider premium processing at the outset so as to get the petition approved quickly and allow for as much time as possible for the visa stamp application process.

USCIS Has Issued Updated Forms

On May 31, 2022, USCIS released new editions of Form I-129 (used to file for O and P visa Petitions) and Form I-907 (for Premium Processing). Both of these forms are identical in all respects to the prior forms, except with new dates at the bottom. Why did they bother, you say? What was the point? No point. They’re just a bunch of crazy kids.

Legal Issue of the Month:
Contract Entirety Clauses

Look out for what are sometimes called “superseding agreement” or “entirety” clauses. They appear in almost all contracts, usually buried amongst the “legalese” that no one wants to read. They usually say something like this: “This Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement between the parties and any prior understanding or representation of any kind preceding the date of this Agreement shall not be binding upon either party except to the extent incorporated in this Agreement.” It means that emails and discussions are not binding once the contract becomes binding.

So, if you had a series of emails with a presenter confirming that your artist must have a dressing room free of feather pillows, but that never made it into the final engagement contract, and the contract contains an “entirety clause”, then she’s going to need some extra-strength Zyrtec. I encountered this situation in the context of travel arrangements, but the issue is the same–and, no, sending me the chain of emails and texts did not help two days before the date! 

Dear Law and Disorder
Actual Questions We Get Asked and The Answers People Don’t Want

“BOARD TERM LIMITS”

Dear Law and Disorder:

We are a small non-profit that runs a performing arts center. In up-dating our by-laws, its been recommended that we establish term limits for our directors and officers, as well as a formal nominating committee. Do we really need such formalities? We’re very small and don’t have any other committees. Can’t the board itself select its own members and officers? And it seems a mistake to force directors to leave when they are willing to continue to serve on our board. What do you recommend to your clients?

While I am a strong advocate of fixed terms, I never recommend term limits for board members. Why? Because among the most challenging aspects of running a successful non-profit is finding and keeping healthy board members who through wealth, work, or wisdom (as opposed to whining, wasting staff time, or wrongheadedness) contribute to the success and productivity of the organization. Once you are lucky enough to find such pearls, the last thing you want to do is force them to leave! However, at the same time, you need to have a mechanism through which malignant board members can be removed. Such members, if left to metastasize, can quickly chase all the healthy ones away, burn out the staff, and poison the entire operation. Fixed terms where board members can then be re-nominated and re-elected provides you with such flexibility.

On the other hand, term limits for officers can be more appropriate. Why? Because with no term limits, even a beloved president or board chair can quickly become a feared dictator that no one wants to cross, or, just as worse, a benevolent, but ineffective leader who spurns all attempts at needed growth or change. At the end of the president’s term, they can still serve on the board, but no longer gets to wield the mace of supreme authority. Also, in my experience, I have found that those you most want to serve as board presidents or chairs will also be those who do not want to serve more than a few years year whereas those you want to avoid will be those looking to establish a hereditary fiefdom.

Deep Thoughts

“The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise and is not preceded by a period of worry and depression.”
John Harvey Jones.”
Send Us Your Questions
Let us know what you’d like to hear more about.
Send us an email, post on Facebook, mail us a letter, dispatch a messenger, raise a smoke signal, reach out telepathically, or use whatever method works for you.

 

GG Arts Law provides a comprehensive range of legal services and strategic support for the performing arts, including: Artist Visas, Taxes, and Touring; Rights & Licensing; Negotiations & Representation; Contracts; Business & Non-Profit Organization & Management; Project Management; and Strategic Consulting & Planning.

OFFICIAL LEGALESE:

THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE!

The purpose of this blog is to provide general advice and guidance, not legal advice. Please consult with an attorney familiar with your specific circumstances, facts, challenges, medications, psychiatric disorders, past-lives, karmic debt, and anything else that may impact your situation before drawing any conclusions, deciding upon a course of action, sending a threatening email, filing a lawsuit, or basically doing anything that may in any way rely upon an assumption that we know what we are talking about or one size fits all!
.

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Posted in Contracts, Law and Disorder: Performing Arts Division, Non-Profits, Uncategorized, Visas | Comments Closed

Nuremberg’s Temporary Opera House.

Saturday, February 19th, 2022

By: Frank Cadenhead
February 19, 2022

It was called “Starlight Bowl” and it was an outdoor performance space in the center of the vast Balboa Park in San Diego. I have so many memories of the San Diego Symphony and their Summer concerts. Mostly light fare but usually programmed with classics from Mozart symphonies to Moussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. As a young boy I was delighted to go on those warm nights. I remember a notable event, a single visit by the touring New York Philharmonic – I was probably 15 at the time. I had taken my copy of Mahler’s Fourth for Maestro Bernstein to sign. He did sign it and he asked me what I thought of Mahler and his interpretation of the symphony. I could not believe that this musical God, with his popular “Young People’s Concerts” a TV icon, was actually talking to me and wanting my views.

A recent photo of the Starlight Bowl indicates it is still there but abandoned, covered with vines and with grass poking through the cracks in the floor. It appears to be unused for some decades and the San Diego Symphony has recently inaugurated an impressive new outdoor summer home adjacent to, and with a wonderful view of, the harbor.

It was only a few years later, in the early 60s, that I was in the US Army and assigned to the European Army headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany. One sunny summer day, high in the tree-covered mountains on the other side of the Neckar river, I was walking down an unmarked path and discovered a vast outdoor amphitheater, much like the Starlight Bowl, with a stage large enough for a full symphony orchestra and chorus. It wasn’t that old and could easily accommodate a summer calendar of events. But it had been abandoned with its own ivy vines and grass poking through holes in the cement floor. The story of this abandoned venue was whispered to me by a local a few days later… it was built for Nazi Party rallies and therefore this space, while impressive and still there, was put out of mind by the Heidelberg populace.

All this came back when reading about the dilemma of the people of Nuremberg and a vast arena still standing in their town. Nuremberg was not far to drive on those very efficient Autobahns and my army friends would visit the city to find those places where Nazi rallies were held. The principal one was just outside the city center but not a single sign identified where to turn or how to reach this place. A few in my military unit did research and any of us who wanted could visit the famed place and view that large field filled with thousands in those films of the rallies. But Nuremberg, like the rest of Germany, sees the period of Hitler as well in the past, unlike my time there in the early 60s where most around were alive during that period. The idea of using a vast Nazi space for opera, however provisionally, would have been inconceivable then. That is far in the past for most German citizens today and a major part is just a large, unused building available for temporary use by the local opera company.

Now, here is the news from December 16: “In Nuremberg, as expected, the city council officially approved the former Nazi site at Volkspark Dutzendteich as an alternative venue for the opera house. Now it can be understood how the horseshoe building from the time of National Socialism will be used exactly.”

“The Nuremberg Opera House will close in the Summer of 2025 and the work on the building is expected to take 10 years. the cost are currently estimated at 700 million euros with another 200 million to finance an alternative space. Since there is no alternative site available in the city, the former Nazi structure will be converted to a temporary facility for at least a decade while the opera house is under renovation. The initial planning has a performance hall of “lightweight” construction either in the inner courtyard or outside the horseshoe while the workshops, rehearsal rooms or offices will be created in the torso of the congress hall. After the opera renovation, these spaces should be able to continue to be used by the cultural scene.”

This has a sense of moving forward for the Germans. All students are extensively exposed to the history of the Nazi period and share the shame of history. All of those alive during that period are mostly gone and the new generations, while never forgetting the past, can begin to more forward. It’s better to spend money on music studies for the young than leave potentially useful structures abandoned and build new ones from the ground up. Hitler will always be part of German history but almost all other European countries have their own unpleasant histories to deal with. Never forget the history but understand that it is now the present and future to give to our children.

Posted in An American in Paris | Comments Closed

IN-PERSON APPOINTMENT WAIVERS NOW AVAILABLE FOR O AND P VISAS

Tuesday, January 4th, 2022

By Brian Taylor Goldstein

Happy New Year! Let’s hope the 2021 we wanted finally comes in 2022,

Perhaps you were as surprised as I to wake up Christmas morning to discover that the U.S. Department of State had left an actual gift in our stockings. Not too much, and not too expensive, but it’s the thought that counts.

In order to address the ongoing delays and backlogs in obtaining visa application appointments at U.S. Consulates, the Department of State announced on December 23, 2021 that it was expanding its policy of permitting U.S. Consulates to waive in-person appointments/interviews for visa applications and allowing applicants to apply for visas merely by mailing in the passport and with no in-person appointment/interview required. A such, effective immediately:

  • Anyone needing to apply for an O or P visa who has ever been issued a U.S. visa in any visa category (B, F, O, P, J, etc) at any time in the past is now eligible for an in-person appointment/interview waiver.

 

  • Anyone needing to apply for an O or P visa who has never been approved for a U.S. visa before is also now eligible for an in-person appointment/interview waiver provided:

(1) They are a citizen of a country that participates in the US. Visa Waiver Programme (VWP); and

(2) They have previously traveled to the U.S. at least once before under ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization).

  • Anyone needing to apply for an O or P visa who has previously been issued an O or P visa within the last 48 months of the prior visa’s expiration date is also eligible for an in-person appointment/interview waiver.

There are two important additional requirements:

(1) The visa applicant’s O or P petition must be approved by USCIS by the time they submit their passport to the consulate; and

(2) The visa application must be submitted at the U.S. Consulate located in the country of which they are a citizen or permanent resident. It is still possible to apply for a visa any ANY U.S. Consulate in the world. However, you will not be eligible for an in-person appointment/interview waiver unless you apply at the U.S. Consulate located in the country where you are a citizen or permanent resident.

As always, U.S. Consulates set their own procedures and policies with regard to how they implement directives from the Department of State. So, the process for requesting an in-person appointment/interview waiver will vary from consulate to consulate, even with regard to consulates within the same country. However, in general, to apply for a visa and request an in-person appointment/interview waiver, the applicant should:

(1) Go to the website of the U.S. Consulate located in the country of which they are a citizen or permanent resident to check for updates and specific policies.

(2) Complete a DS-160 and pay the application fee.

(3) Follow the instructions for requesting an in-person appointment/interview waiver.

Whether or not an in-person appointment/interview waiver will be granted will continue to remain at the discretion of the U.S. Consulate. In general, any applicant who has ever been refused a visa in the past will not qualify, unless that refusal was overcome or waived, and there can be no apparent or potential ineligibilities. Also, due to ongoing staff shortages U.S. Consulates around the world as a result of COVID and the insidiously prolific variations of its mephistophelian offspring, some U.S. Consulates may limit the visa categories eligible for in-person appointment/ interview waivers as well as limit the number of total waivers they are able to process in all categories any given time

For those interested in reading the actual U.S. State Department announcement, click here on the helpful government information specialist:

GG Arts Law provides a comprehensive range of legal services and strategic support for the performing arts, including: Artist Visas, Taxes, and Touring; Rights & Licensing; Negotiations & Representation; Contracts; Business & Non-Profit Organization & Management; Project Management; and Strategic Consulting & Planning.

VISIT OUR NEW WEBSITE: ggartslaw.com‘

 

THE OFFICIAL LEGALESE:

THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE!

The purpose of this blog is to provide general advice and guidance, not legal advice. Please consult with an attorney familiar with your specific circumstances, facts, challenges, medications, psychiatric disorders, past-lives, karmic debt, and anything else that may impact your situation before drawing any conclusions, deciding upon a course of action, sending a nasty or threatening email to someone, filing a lawsuit, or basically doing anything that may in any way rely upon an assumption that we know what we are talking about.

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Posted in Law and Disorder: Performing Arts Division, Touring, Uncategorized, Visas | Comments Closed