Non-Profit Organizations

NIL Rights in Indiana

March 21, 2025 | Morgan B. Brading

AdobeStock_545862793-300x200 The concept of the right of publicity, often referred to as “name, image, and likeness” (NIL) rights, has gained significant attention in recent years, especially with the rise of social media and the increasing commercialization of personal brands. Indiana’s right of publicity, codified at Indiana Code 32-36, provides a robust framework for protecting these rights. This article delves into the specifics of Indiana’s right of publicity, what NIL rights entail, who is entitled to them, how to prevent misappropriation, and ways to monetize these rights.

What is the Right of Publicity?

TThe right of publicity is a legal principle that allows individuals to control the commercial use of their personal identity. This includes their name, image, likeness, voice, signature, and other distinctive characteristics. Essentially, it allows individuals to prevent others from exploiting their persona for commercial gain without permission.

Indiana House Bill 1593: Fraud Prevention

March 18, 2025 | Michael R. Smith

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Update on Bill Actions

HB 1593 was passed by the House of Representatives on February 17, 2025. It was referred to the Senate and assigned to the Judiciary Committee on March 3, 2025.
On March 13, the bill was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, do pass, with no further revisions.

Who owns a nonprofit corporation?

September 2, 2023 | Michael R. Smith

The answer to that question is remarkably simple but surprising to many: No one owns a nonprofit corporation. To understand why that is so, let’s compare nonprofit corporations to for-profit or business corporations.

Business Corporations

Imagine you buy 100 shares of common stock in a corporation on the New York Stock Exchange. Congratulations! You’re a shareholder. Your 100 shares of stock give you specific economic and noneconomic rights.

History of the Johnson Amendment

October 2, 2018 | Michael R. Smith

The Johnson Amendment, which has been in the news from time to time for the last couple of years, is sometimes described as prohibiting tax exempt churches from campaigning for candidates for elected office. That is accurate, but it applies more broadly than to churches. No organization is eligible for tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code if it

participate[s] in, or intervene[s] in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.

Last year, the President signed Executive Order 13798 that directed the Secretary of the Treasury to:

Revised Policy on the Use of Unpaid Interns

August 21, 2018 | Michael R. Smith

We previously discussed whether nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses can use unpaid interns without violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (or FLSA). We also discussed allegations of violations of the FLSA related to unpaid interns in the fashion industry.

Earlier this year, the Department of Labor revised its policy, known as Fact Sheet #71, for determining whether businesses may use unpaid interns. The old 2010 policy used a six-factor test, with the presence of all six factors required in order for businesses to use unpaid interns without violating the FLSA. The new 2018 policy considers the following seven factors to determine whether the business or the intern is the primary beneficiary of the internship.

The extent to which the intern and the employer clearly understand that there is no expectation of compensation. Any promise of compensation, express or implied, suggests that the intern is an employee—and vice versa.

Indiana Business Entity Harmonization: Postscript

March 3, 2018 | Michael R. Smith

We previously discussed the Business Entity Harmonization Bill (Senate Enrolled Act 443 or P.L. 118-2017) passed last year by the General Assembly in the following posts:

Part I — an introduction.
Part II — a discussion of IC 23‑0.5, the Uniform Business Organizations Code.

Indiana Business Entity Harmonization: Part IV

January 3, 2018 | Michael R. Smith

[March 3, 2018. The General Assembly amended some of the provisions created the Business Entity Harmonization Bill, as discussed in a Postscript to this series.]

This is the last in four-part series. The first three parts are here: here, here, and here.

This Part IV describes some flaws of Senate Enrolled Act 443 that we ran across while writing the first three parts. We hope the General Assembly will address them, either in the 2018 session or another.

Indiana Business Entity Harmonization: Part II

January 1, 2018 | Michael R. Smith

[March 3, 2018. The General Assembly amended some of the provisions created the Business Entity Harmonization Bill, as discussed in a Postscript to this series.]

This is the second of a four-part series discussing the Business Entity Harmonization Bill passed by the Indiana General Assembly in 2017. An overview of the bill is provided in Part I.

Senate Enrolled Act 443 creates, effective as of January 1, 2018, a new Article 0.5 in Title 23 of the Indiana Code, the Uniform Business Organizations Code, that includes a number of provisions that apply to Indiana business corporations (including professional corporations and benefit corporations, but excluding insurance companies), limited liability companies (LLCs, including series LLCs), limited partnerships (LPs), limited liability partnerships (LLPs), and nonprofit corporations, eliminating a number of inconsistencies between similar provisions for different types of entities. The following discussion is a brief description of some of the more important provisions, drawing attention to new or substantially changed provisions.

Indiana Business Entity Harmonization: Part I

January 1, 2018 | Michael R. Smith

[March 3, 2018. The General Assembly amended some of the provisions created the Business Entity Harmonization Bill, as discussed in a Postscript to this series.]

Indiana law provides for several types of business and nonprofit entities, each of which is governed by one or more articles of Title 23 of the Indiana Code, all of which require similar filings with the Indiana Secretary of State, and all of which are capable of undergoing transactions such as mergers and conversions into other types of entities. The types of entities and the governing portions of Title 23 are:

Business Corporations, Article 1

The Effects of Tax Reform on Charitable Organizations

November 18, 2017 | Michael R. Smith

Although the tax reform bill just passed by the U.S. House of Representatives retains the income tax deduction for individuals who make contributions to charitable organizations (i.e., organizations that are tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code), it may nonetheless have significant effects on the amount of charitable giving by Americans. The reason lies in the increase in the standard tax deduction for individuals and the elimination of other deductions.

Increasing the Standard Deduction

The tax code provides several types of deductions that reduce the amount of tax owed by individual taxpayers, including deductions for home mortgage interest and contributions to charitable organizations. However, the tax code also provides a minimum “standard deduction” for taxpayers who have less than that amount in itemized deductions. Taxpayers who itemize deductions receive a tax benefit by making a charitable contribution, but not those who take the standard deduction. For example, the after-tax cost of a $100 contribution by most itemizing taxpayers in the 25% tax bracket is only $75. For taxpayers who take the standard deduction, the cost of a $100 contribution is $100 in both before- and after-tax dollars.