1. NAAC advocates the the passage of a National Arts and Crafts Act, to protect the work, creativity, livelihood and marketing rights of artists and crafters. We believe it has become essential that the same benefits of protection ascribed to the Native American Arts and Crafts community should be available to all artists and crafters. National legislation for the protection against copyright violations, fraudulent claims of authentic handcrafted work, illegal practices such as "blackballing", and regulation of standards and ethics within the promoter/event organizer groups.
2. Promote the establishment of a standardized set of ethics and standards for use by all promoters and event organizers. In the marketing arena for the artists and crafters each promoter and event organizer has established their own ethics and standards that are interpreted only by those promoters and organizers without input from the artists and crafters community. These standards generally have no bearing on the actual practices of most promoters and organizers and are not necessarily set as standard from show to show by each promoter. NAAC believes that a national set of ethics and standards are needed to protect the arts and crafts industry from fraud, misrepresentation, copyright infringements, and illegal photography of creative works.
3. Establish standards for handcrafted products and goods and regulation on the ban of buy/sell products. NAAC advocates the establishment of a "national definition" of what constitutes handcrafted products and goods and promotes the advocacy of standards and regulations on non qualified items in arts and crafts shows. In addition NAAC believes that a standardized jury process be established to determine the validity of claims by so called artists and crafters that produce their own products and goods.
4. Accountability of promoters and event organizers. NAAC believes that there is a need to enforce the rules and regulations that promoters have established and required artists and crafters to atest to in their contracts, to be held legally responsible and accountable to fulfill the terms stated within those contracts.
5. Simplicfication of refunds and refund policies. NAAC advocates for more realistic policies pertaining to refunds for cancellation of shows by the promoter, or by artists and crafters. We promote a standardized policy on the return of funds to artists and crafters and any fees withheld by promoters and organizers. NAAC also advocates for an appeal process for artists and crafters that include promoters when settlements cannot be attained for cancelled shows and a mediation guideline accepted universally by promoters of those guidelines.
6. NAAC advocates for the use of artists and crafters in the jury process. Artists who have excellent credentials plus a strong understanding of our profession provide a perspective that adds to the accuracy, of the traditionaljury process.
7. Promote the right to protect copyrighted products or goods from fraudulent sources such as retailers and "arts and crafts vendors". NAAC promotes the need to establish a means to provide confiscation of goods and products that are known copyrighted items from fraudulent retails who sell these goods or products as their own.
8. NAAC advocates for the business education of artists and crafters. Though NAAC recognizes that a large percentage of artists and crafters are a part time business operation, the artist is a business. Business conditions today require the necessary knowledge to adequately operate a small business enterprise to succeed as an artist. We promote the need for standardized education in operating a small business attuned primarily to the arts and craft industry.
