Business SmARTs: Protecting IP in the Arts

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of protecting your work as an artist. If you don’t, who will? As an arts organization, we know that a firm, informed grasp of Intellectual Property (IP) questions can help empower artists to take control of their creations, ensuring they receive due credit for their work while safeguarding themselves against replication and the possibilities of commercial exploitation.

That’s why we’re bringing you this panel. If you’re an artist struggling to understand the ins and outs of copyrights, trademarks, licensing and patents — especially in our ever-changing digital age — this event is for you! Moderated by Jasmine Kiara, this event will offer you a basic crash course in some of these legal concepts and ideas, so you can leave more informed, confident, and armed with the knowledge you need to keep yourself, and your art, protected.

Meet the Panellists

Jasmine Kiara is an intellectual property professional and an R&B recording artist who graduated from local artist development programs such as Honey Jam, The Remix Project and Soundstock Academy. Throughout her music career, Jasmine has worked with Juno Award-winning and Grammy-nominated producers, developing a signature sound, amassing hundreds of thousands of streams and performing at the city’s top venues. Her experience in the legal sector has helped her hold positions the top legal firms in Toronto such as Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Bereskin & Parr LLP and Smart & Biggar LP.

Lisa Whynot is a Toronto-based entertainment lawyer known for her extensive experience in music law and her dedication to advocating for artists, songwriters, producers, mixers, labels and music industry professionals, everywhere from Los Angeles to Toronto. She started her own own entertainment law firm and management company, formerly worked at EMI Music Canada and currently works at Edwards Creative Law.

Vonny Lorde (they/them/theirs) is a Toronto-based photographer and creative director. Lorde is known for their energizing and emotive shots that stand at the intersection of music and youth culture captured through their self-published coffee table book FILMFORFUN, however it is through their portraiture that their photography takes on a more visceral meaning. Their work highlights the Black gaze by giving their subjects the creative license and freedom to determine their own narratives through images.