Are you a Washington artist that is just starting to get into the business of selling your work? One of the first things that you should do is hire a Washington art lawyer to help represent your interests. It can be hard work getting a business set up to sell your art, especially if you really would prefer to be just making art and let someone else handle the selling of your art.

Here are five reasons you need a Washington art lawyer if you're going to sell your work in Washington:

1. To protect your designs -- If you are an artist that creates original work you need to copyright and in some cases patent your designs to protect them from being copied or stolen. A good Washington art lawyer can help you start the copyright process that you need to go through to fully protect your designs and your artwork.

2. To go after anyone that steals your designs -- Usually all it takes to get someone to stop copying your designs if they have started copying your work or your images is a cease and desist letter from a good lawyer. If you have a good Washington art lawyer on retainer you can clear up any problems with people that are copying your work quickly and easily.

3. To help you sell your art -- Many artists that deal in high end art have a lawyer that represents them for sales. This make the process of drawing up contracts and completing sales where lots of money changes hands go much more smoothly and it's expected for high end artists to have their lawyers handle the details of selling the art.

4. To help you get set up to sell your art -- If you are setting up a business to sell your art in Washington then a Washington art lawyer can help you fill out the paperwork that you need to file in order to get a seller's license and complete your tax information so that you can legally sell your art. It's important to take care of these things before you start to sell your art.

5. To produce legal contracts -- If you are having a gallery or an agent sell your art on commission then you will need to have contracts in place that will specify how much of the final sale price you get, what happens to any artwork that doesn't sell, and other details that come along with having someone else sell your work.

It's always a good idea to have a Washington art lawyer look over or even draw up the contracts that you plan to use to make sure that the contracts are legally binding and are in your best interests as an artist.