Back in August, I had a request to review DeviantArt's policies. The requester was concerned that "They don't give a cut off date for how long they can use your images for promotional material for their site." It's been a few months since I had time to read their boilerplates thoroughly, so I'm not sure whether what is available now was available in August.

I have been doing a bit of research on services for video hosting, and came across Revver. They are similar to YouTube, but their primary feature is revenue-sharing. Although YouTube recently introduced that feature, that seems to be Revver's focus. It's a good site to keep in mind, but take note that "[y]our videos will remain on Revver as long as they generate a reasonable amount of activity", which may not be suitable for everyone.

I was recently asked to investigate whether the Public Art Competition for the North-South Light Railway in Cologne is legitimate. They have an open, international call for artists to submit applications for public art as part of their railway project. What flagged this as a possible scam was "The financial means for the competition, including the realisation of the art works, amount to 1.75 million euros.".

Although that does seem like a large sum for public art, the call does appear to be legitimate. Cologne really is working on expanding their public rail system, and the websites appear to be legitimate. Although the total is 1.75 million euros, that's split among 8 stations, working out to an average 218,750 euros per station (minus whatever they're taking out of that to pay the staff organizing the competition). Artists are encouraged to participate, but to continue to be careful and protect their rights and finances. The call can be found here.

Update July 7th: The call is only open to citizens of EU or EU-associated countries.

This review/response on the Saatchi Gallery's "Your Gallery" section is courtesy of Sara Kelly, former Associate Director of CARFAC Ontario:

Some artists are reporting receiving invitations to "show" their work on the Saatchi Gallery website. The Saatchi Gallery is a gallery in London, England which showcases contemporary art in the collection of Charles Saatchi, who is known for launching the careers of many contemporary British artists, especially those artists known as the "YBAs", or Young British Artists (Damien Hirst, Tracy Emin, Sarah Lucas, Chris Ofili, etc.).

The invitations refer to "Your Gallery", a more recent initiative operating as part of the Saatchi Gallery website which allows artists to upload images of their work, thus creating an online community for artists and providing exposure.

The London International Creative Competition is a new but legitimate competition.

Noteworthy is the fact that their domain name has been registered to an ISP in America, although the competition itself is in the UK. This is probably so that they could secure the licc.us domain name (registering a .us domain name requires American citizenship) because licc.com, licc.org and licc.info are already taken.

Art News Blog recently posted something about Bank of America paying for museum entry fees. And guess what? It's legitimate! To qualify, you must have a Bank of America credit or check card or MBNA credit card.

Last week, I received my e-invitation to the Florence Biennale. Although the event is a vanity show (i.e. you must pay to exhibit), it is legitimate and many artists have shown there happily (the Sculpture Community forum has a discussion on the 2005 event). Artists are encouraged to contact the organizers for more information if they are interested, and to evaluate the opportunity to ensure that it meets their needs.

I have received confirmation from Art Business News magazine that the article posted on Yajnavalka Inc.'s website "was covered in the issue of Today's Top Publishers, which was a supplement guide in the Art Business News Magazine for September '06."

I am upgrading Yajnavalka Inc. from "status: undetermined" to "legitimate", but advise artists to continue to use their best judgment when working with any out-of-town gallery.

Yajnavalka Inc. has been contacting artists online, and it seems like the majority of the emails are being sent through artistsspace.org (one of many online portfolio websites for artists). To date, I have been able to confirm that they are a real business entity, but not much beyond that. I have not been able to confirm their claims with any certainty, and advise artists outside of Texas to proceed with caution when dealing with them.

There is also a discussion on Yajnavalka Inc. at WetCanvas: http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=394251

I have received an email from Melissa from Benefit 5, confirming that they are now legally registered as a non-profit corporation in the State of LA under number LCO 36376921N as of Feb. 7, 2007.

Artists who are interested in donating to charities with their artwork are encouraged to do so through Benefit 5.