Legal Considerations for Indigenous Artists & Designers: An introductory guide is the result of a collaboration between:

• The Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH),
• OCAD University’s RBC Centre for Emerging Artists & Designers (CEAD),
• Canadian Artists’ Representation/le front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC) Ontario,
• Artists’ Legal Advice Services (ALAS).

This collaboration was formed to provide free summary legal information, non-legal peer support, and other resources for Indigenous artists spanning a variety of industries and disciplines.

As part of this ongoing collaboration, we have hosted two roundtables and a webinar on legal considerations for Indigenous Artists in Film and Media Arts. We have developed this resource in response to themes that emerged from these prior events and conversations.

Indigenous women* are becoming increasingly visible in the arts, with a rising number of actors, comedians, musicians, authors, visual artists, craftspeople, and dancers being represented across major artistic platforms. Although a substantial proportion of artists can be considered entrepreneurs, freelance artists and creatives are often overlooked in discussions of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. The aim of this resource is to support creative women entrepreneurs by providing information and tools that can assist them in their creative endeavors and businesses.

*Note: Our use of the term women is inclusive, including cis women, trans women, Two Spirit, genderqueer, gender fluid, and non-binary folks.