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To be or not to be, to form an LLC or a 501(c)(3)? For artists working together, the choice has typically been one or the other: form a business or form a nonprofit arts organization. Now there is another option: an Artist Corporation, or A-Corp. Under the “,” signed by Governor ��on June 2, our state leads the country in helping artists form collectives to retain intellectual property over their creative work. Anyone, anywhere, can form an A-Corp in Colorado, meaning the act has nationwide impact.

To form an A-Corp is to believe in the power of team sports, that one can go fast alone, but far with others. Just as my social media feed sends me videos of friends who bought a ranch to live and work together, A-Corps can help creative workers build their own business commons. Without the need for lawyers, you can fill out a form, declare your artistic mission, and define who contributes and owns what. Et voilà, your garage band is now a legal business structure.

The vision of Yancey Strickler, co-founder of Kickstarter, ��found enthusiasm among Colorado artists, advocates, and legislators. Our state ��in the number of performing and creative artists, and the arts account for $18 billion of our economy. A-Corps are, in part, Colorado’s effort to build an infrastructure better supporting artists and their livelihoods. By taking a leading role, Colorado is giving a vote of confidence in the state’s creative industries.

In short, A-Corps are a kind of LLC (Limited Liability Company) that must have an , be more than half artist-controlled, and can never transfer intellectual property rights away from the artists. Outside investors can purchase shares in A-Corps, but they do not automatically have voting power or decision-making control.

While an individual can form an A-Corp alone, the central logic behind them is to form a business with others. That is the rationale behind A-Corps serving as tools to negotiate group health insurance. In this sense, A-Corps carry the ethos of co-ops and mutual aid groups, mixed with the venture capital logic of “revenue shares” and “recoupment structures.”

A-Corps’ ability to accumulate and retain profits over the long term, however, is a central feature that distinguishes them from 501(c)(3)s. Historically, nonprofit status has been a default for many arts groups. It allows you to receive tax-deductible donations, which are necessary if the sale of your artwork doesn’t cover your costs. As ��have pointed out, though, nonprofit status should not be a universal default for artists. One central downside to 501(c)(3)s is that they don’t permit artists to retain legal ownership of their creative ideas and artwork; instead, the only way artists can get paid is through salary.

As someone who likes team sports, I’m attracted to the goals of cooperation and mutualism, while acknowledging its challenges. My friends and I pursued that ranch-life ourselves and bought a farm. We set up an LLC and spent hours negotiating terms like “put options,” “sweat equity,” and “distribution upon dissociation.” It wasn’t easy and I don’t envy artists needing to do the same.

Ultimately, I think A-Corps are best suited to help those already making commercially viable art. It gives them a flexible and easy-to-setup business structure that protects them and their art. That said, I still believe artists most struggling will continue to struggle and that there will continue to be upstream problems including affordable housing and arts spaces. Neither do I want to give up on universal healthcare coverage or the idea of artist .

Nonetheless I endorse the way A-Corps confront and provide an alternative to the status quo. Even if they maintain certain investor ideologies, A-Corps center artists against corporate giants, allowing creative workers one way to refuse theft of their autonomy. I commend Colorado’s leadership in adding a public tool to reimagine our creative arts ecosystem.