Join me & @naladraws for a great conversation about art directors, sensitivity editors, contracts, scams directed at artists, and true allyship in today's episode of the Quip & Quill.
This is a rehash of a thread I wrote for Twitter that I think is important to share here as well!
some disclaimers:
I don't speak for all artists (but artists, if you didn't know this please look up info about copyright transfer law bc you could be losing out on lots of money)
I'm not a lawyer, this is not legal advice
I can only speak to my knowledge and experience working as a freelance Illustrator & Art Director in the United States. Laws will be different for other countries.
dear anyone who’s looking for art for their projects:
Full copyright transfers (FCT) are expensive. If you want a full copyright transfer (ie to OWN the art), expect to pay AT LEAST $1,000 (artists should be charging at LEAST double their base price)
Why?
A FCT means you now own the art and can do anything you want with it: make and sell merch/prints, edit it, resell the rights to someone else, etc
Most people/projects don’t NEED a FCT. There are other options for commercial licenses that allow artists to retain rights & are cheaper for the client. I am BEGGING indie game designers to understand this and to stop lowballing artists when asking for exclusivity.
If you want exclusivity, you gotta PAY for that— however:
Exclusivity ≠ Full Copyright Transfer
A Limited or Full Exclusivity license prevents the artist from relicensing the work elsewhere, BUT they retain the rights and can use it in their portfolio, for self-promo, and can (depending on your agreement) sell their own prints if they wish.
The reason why FCTs are expensive is because the client can, via merch/prints/future uses, continue to make money off the art with the artist not seeing a cent of that profit. The client can edit it, and the artist can’t do anything, even though their name is still attached.
This is my PSA hoping that the TTRPG space (and beyond; although I only have experience/knowledge about copyright as it pertains to my career in TTRPGs) absorbs it like a sponge.
FCTs are expensive and (usually) not needed for the average project. What you are probably seeking is an [limited] exclusivity commercial license.
for example, if hiring ME (bc i don't speak for all artists), here are some of the options I offer for commercial licenses:
Basic Commercial License: grants permission to use art in print/pdf and in social media promos for the project w credit
Limited Exclusivity: the above + I can't relicense until X amt of time has passed
Full Exclusivity: the above except I can't relicense it at all, but I do retain full rights to the image
Full Copyright Transfer: You own the art and can do whatever you want w/out getting permission from me, even 10 yrs from now. You don't even HAVE to credit me (but you should...for obvious reasons)
I negotiate licenses to make print/merch separately and on top of one of the above licenses, and that is either an upfront/flat fee, upfront fee + royalties, or just royalties.
Also, I do art consultations!! If you are looking to hire artists and don't know what you're doing, you can hire me and I'll go over your project needs and help give you an idea of what your art is going to cost you depending on your needs!
character & inspo for Viridian Song of Clan Ventrue 😈🩸✨
meet them & the rest of their coterie @rocketsandpens, @JennGeeky, & @hshahid_ (twt handles) tonight at 8pm at the premiere of Itaewon By Night with ST @scarydogfriend (twt) on @Goingcritrpg (twt)
For our premiere episode we will be raising money to help the people of Itaewon with the aftermath of the deadly crowd crush on Halloween night. Please come out and support this charity if you can, as well as showing an all-Asian cast of VtM your undying love 😌✨
Hi if you’ve seen all my cringe from high school no you didn’t :)))))))))) uhh anyways if you’re from TTRPG twitter and you’ve moved to tumblr, hi this is @NalaWu/@naladraws from there 👁👁
Starry Night by Van Gogh ! finished product!! This skirt was sewn with help and hand painted by me! 3.5 hours with fabric paint 👁👅👁 It's for my school's senior dress up day!! Song is Blind by Port of Spain 🤗
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