Artist Hacks

Model contracts

In cooperation with the law firm Laaser, we have created model contracts for the usual regulatory needs in the field of independent performing arts, especially in dance. These can be requested from us free of charge. Please fill out the disclaimer and send it to info@tanzbueromuenchen.de.

Currently we can offer the following contracts:

• Director (with and without revival) | in German and English

• Choreography (with and without revival) | in German and English

• Dramaturgy (with and without revival) | in German

• Composition (with and without revival) | in German

• Dancer (with and without revival) | in German and English

• Performer (with and without revival) | in German and English

• Puppetry (with and without revival) | in German and English

• Stage and costume design (with and without revival as well as separate granting of rights) | in German and English

• Filmmaker (with and without revival and separate granting of rights) | in German and English

• Revival | in German and English

• Co-production | in German and English

• Guest performance | in German and English

• Annex grant of rights | in German and English

• License agreement digital projects | in German and English

• Standard contract (geared towards #TakeThat funding) | in German

• Production management | in German

• Contract data processing | in German

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In addition, touring artists offers annotated model contracts for the visual and performing arts. The contracts contain information that is particularly relevant for the conclusion of contracts between partners from different countries. Sample contracts for guest performances, residencies and co-productions are also online.

Tax & Law

On her website, attorney Sonja Laaser offers compact information on contract und labor law, among other things, such as cancellation fees in the event of a performance being canceled, agreement on guest performance contracts, job shadowing and minimum wage, mini-jobs, and a checklist for foreigners' law. From 2020 on the Kleinunternehmerregelung will be raised from 17,500 to 22,000 euros of the previous year's turnover and will thus apply retroactively for 2019.

For the knowledge platform CAMPUS of the Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Künste, the Berlin law firm Laaser explains contract law in a podcast and provides further information on legal forms and the onward transfer of public funding.

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The Handbook on Theater Law by theater maker Christoph Nix, published by Theater der Zeit in 2019, is a practice-oriented guidebook that provides information on the legal basis for stage artists at state theaters, as freelance artists, or as a group. Among other things, stage labor law, association and company law, copyright law and questions of co-determination are explained in an up-to-date and comprehensible manner. In addition, the volume contains a selected collection of the most important stage law texts, the NV Bühne and sample contracts.

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The State Association of Independent Theaters in Lower Saxony (LaFT) provides information in its primer for independent theater in German, English and Arabic on various topics such as legal principles, communication, cost and financing plans and sample contracts.

The Bavarian State Ministry of Finance, State Development and Home Affairs provides tax tips for artists. 

In addition, touring artists provides information on current changes in the law.​

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The Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Künste has published information about the KSK on its website.

Freelancing in the arts sector

The Hamburg Kreativgesellschaft has developed an Online Academy for all those who would like to become freelancers or have already set up their own business. In the free Online Academy you will find answers to all the questions that you should definitely deal with in the context of your self-employment.

Theaterbüro München – How To's

On it's website, Theaterbüro München offers tips and advice on planing your own productions in the performing arts. The How To's created for this purpose provide information on topics such as budgeting, rehearsal rooms and sample contracts.

Producing sustainably

The BFDK ECO RIDER offers guidance for all those involved in theater who are looking to get started in sustainable working. All areas of work are addressed and provided with practical steps, so that the BFDK ECO RIDER simultaneously offers a basis for jointly agreeing, within the framework of a production or institution, which sustainable working methods are already being applied and which practical measures can also be implemented in the short and long term.

The BFDK ECO RIDER is explicitly addressed to all people producing theater - whether employed or freelance: production managers, actors and stage technicians, directors as well as festival makers, costume and set designers - and invites them to deal with the implementation of sustainable work.

The BFDK ECO RIDER can be downloaded here free of charge.

Reflektor's Green Guide supports cultural practitioners on their way to a more sustainable cultural practice. The first guides on mobility, production, production technics and catering is already online, with others on energy and communication to follow. The guides were developed together with theater companies with the aim of supporting cultural professionals in the field of performing arts on their way to a sustainable cultural practice.

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On October 11, 2023, the CO2 Culture Standard and CO2 Culture Calculator were adopted by the federal, state and local governments at the Conference of Culture Ministers and the Cultural Policy Summit. This enables cultural institutions in all sectors to record their CO2 emissions according to uniform specifications, identify potential savings and develop sustainable strategies. Until now, there have been no uniform guidelines or standards for drawing up carbon footprints in the cultural sector. Take a look at it here!

Practical Manuals

Creability – Practical Manual for inclusive Art

The practical manual for the CREABILITY project is now available. On more than 150 pages, it provides useful instructions and checklists for designing creative offerings in the fields of dance, drama and music - for people with and without disabilities. The Un-Label Performing Arts Company coordinated the project, which was funded by the EU's ERASMUS+ program and also involved TU Dortmund University and the Greek non-profit organization SMouTh.

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Entering the Ivory Tower - Reader for Antidiscrimination Trainers in the Cultural Sector

Isolated from the world and self-referential - the cultural sector has long been criticized as an ivory tower. But how can anti-discrimination trainers help to initiate structural changes and create access? This reader from Diversity Arts Culture is aimed at anti-discrimination trainers who want to offer further training in the cultural sector, as well as at educational trainers who already work in the cultural sector but have little practical experience. On the one hand, it aims to facilitate the entry into discourses and negotiation processes that take place in the cultural sector. On the other hand, it gathers reports on the experiences of educational trainers who already offer anti-discrimination workshops in the cultural sector and points out pitfalls as well as proven methods. It also takes into account the specific challenges that trainers from marginalized communities face in workshop contexts and opens up strategies and spaces for action for them.

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Art is made by people. Among others, by people whose mobility, senses, cognition and psyche - normatively speaking - are impaired. To give you a better overview of equal opportunities and educational justice for cultural actors and users with disabilities in and through cultural funding measures, Un-Label has published a guideline!

In this guideline you will find a lot of concrete starting points and ideas how to create equal opportunities for applicants and cultural audiences with disabilities through changes in funding guidelines and concepts.

Paul Klinger Künstlersozialwerk e.V.

The Paul Klinger Sozialwerk e.V. offers support for and by artists. In counseling sessions, which are conducted by artists themselves as well as by specialized staff, the individual characteristics, depending on the personal life and professional situation, are discussed. Issues concerning the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK), including application procedures and assistance in applying for grants and foundation funds, can also be addressed.

Artists' social security contribution

IS ARTISTS' SOCIAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTION PAYABLE FOR CONTRACTUAL PENALTIES, CLAIMS FOR DAMAGES OR CANCELLATION FEES?

Artists' social security contributions are only payable if an artistic or journalistic service has actually been rendered. If a service is not rendered, no artists' social security contributions are due. Therefore, claims for damages and contractual penalties are not part of the reportable remuneration. If cancellation fees are paid even though a service has not been provided, they are to be treated as contractual penalties and are therefore not reportable. On the other hand, contingency fees for services already rendered that are merely not utilized or used must be reported to the KSK.