Denver’s vibrant neighborhoods are alive with street murals. These large-format art projects are valuable in our community, and they belie a number of important legal issues, including copyright, property ownership, use of street murals in other artistic or commercial depictions of street murals, and artists' moral rights in their expressions.
Zach Warkentin of Warkentin LLC and Dave Ratner of Creative Law Network present on fundamental copyright and other legal issues for street muralists, property owners, and anyone else involved in street art. This September 2020 event was presented in coordination with the Colorado Bar Association's Sports and Entertainment Section and RiNo Art District.
About Dave Ratner
Following a career in the music and entertainment management businesses as a tour manager, publicist, band manager, Dave Ratner is the founder and Managing Partner of Creative Law Network, a boutique Denver law firm specializing in entertainment, intellectual property, and business law. Dave’s clients include creative individuals and businesses in a variety of industries. He has been one of 5280's Top Lawyers for Entertainment Law since the magazine began publishing its list of top lawyers and been named both Client's Best and Barrister's Best Entertainment Lawyer by Law Week Colorado. Dave is a graduate of Cornell University and the University of Denver College of Law. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Denver College of Law, Secretary/Treasurer of the Entertainment & Sports Section of the Colorado Bar Association, Advisory Committee Chair of Colorado Attorneys for the Arts, on the Boards of Swallow Hill and the Center for Visual Art at Metro State, and a graduate of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Denver program.
About Zach Warkentin
Zach Warkentin is a lifelong Coloradan and the founder of Warkentin LLC, a law firm designed to represent creatives and small businesses in business law and intellectual property matters in a wide range of industries and stages. Prior to forming Warkentin LLC, Zach forged successful careers in the legal, design, and creative spaces. He worked in complex civil litigation for six years, representing professional clients in multimillion-dollar healthcare and accounting malpractice litigation. Zach also has 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry as an artist, promoter, and attorney. He has toured much of the country and shared the stage with renowned acts such as Empire of the Sun, Digable Planets, Chali 2na, the Motet, and Zion-I. Zach is the current Chair of the Colorado Bar Association’s Entertainment and Sports Law Section and an equity partner in The Armory Denver, a production house in the Curtis-Park neighborhood of Denver. Zach graduated from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, where he was the President of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society.