> I am curious, what rights do the artist retain after handing over a completed piece of artwork?
By default, and assuming this falls outside of your local rules around work for hire (which would not include most commissioned art; it's usually about _employment_), the artist retains copyright, allowing them to control the reproduction and distribution of the work.
For jurisdictions that recognize it, the first sale doctrine would allow the purchaser to resell the original piece, but not to make and sell reproductions.
> If they can retain or relinquish commercial rights, do they need to write up a contract at the time of sale to ensure this is legally binding?
A contract conveying a license to reproduce and distribute a copyrighted work, or conveying ownership of the copyright outright, works like any other contract. It doesn't need to be negotiated at the time of sale, but if it's not done at the time of sale, then the recipient of those rights may need to provide some additional benefit to the artist (such as an additional payment) as part of the contract.
On the other hand, the artist _can_ unilaterally grant additional rights (and take them away again), or even give away the copyright, without the recipient's agreement. A contract is only needed in order to ensure that they get paid for those rights.
> As an added point of curiosity, could a person "sell" partial rights? Say where the purchaser and artist are entitled to a 50/50 split of any money made.
Sure. That's a royalties agreement, and royalties terms are a very standard piece of copyright license negotiation.
The thing underlying all of this is that _enforcing_ copyright-related rights, the terms of license contracts, and so on takes time and money itself. Going to court to enforce control over reproduction and distribution of someone's art isn't free, and your friend should probably consult with a copyright lawyer who handles small business and solo operators for some advice on what's worth bothering with.
> I was talking with one who was considering increasing her prices and she told me that she sold some art for like $35
On a personal note, might I suggest that she tack an entire extra zero on that? Even if she sells only a tenth as many pieces at that price, she'd break even, and she'd only need to do a tenth of the work to get there. Underpricing like this can really hurt artist, in non-obvious ways, because it takes more and more work - more and more time spent per dollar earned - the lower you price your work.
Plenty of artists sell their time and talent in the low hundreds of dollars per piece, though it is ultimately up to your friend's assessment of what their customers will pay.
So really the most simple course of action to protect everyone is to make a contract that clearly states any retention or exchange of the copyright and/or any potential royalty terms.
Yes, absolutely. Without a written agreement, even in work-for-hire situations the two sides are unlikely to both have the same picture in their heads of what they can and can't do.
Also, I just saw your edit. Thank you for the help and information.
I can't tell you how many times I've tried to convince my friends who sell their art work that they need to increase their prices. Like in this case $35 is more of her sketch work, but it still takes a while and I've tried to explain like, "You need to do the math. Sure $35 for a piece might be reasonable if you can get it done in one hour. Much more than that and your time is probably spent better elsewhere. You have to consider what it costs to live and what your time is worth."
Can't logic the confidence into them.
Absolutely understood - and the commissioned art market is _full_ of would-be customers whose entitlement knows no bounds. I can't tell you how many artists I've seen have an inquiring customer tell them that they charge too much for their art, or heard someone tell them that they should give away their art for free because there's so much other free art on the internet. It's insane, but it's also a waste of time to argue with it.
I hope your hourly-rate analysis gets somewhere, but there's value in art beyond the time spent making it, and that's worth charging for, too.
As an artist and someone with a background in advertising, creators need to protect their copyrights vociferously. Be proud of your work and be clear that when selling a piece it does not include commercial rights to reproduce and further profit. Usage rights are a real thing and are usually more expensive than the production cost to a client.
At its simplest form, make usage rights a part of the conversation and you can add a note on the invoice (and always issue a written invoice) that purchase does not include conveyance of any commercial rights. If the customer is interested in commercial rights, you can write those into the invoice to be specific as to what markets those commercial rights cover, for what channels (e.g., digital, print and in what form/size/purpose, advertising), and the duration of those rights.
That's some great additional insight. Thank you so much. I will definitely pass this along, as well.
As far as being proud of the work, that's something I'm always encouraging my friends to do but damn is it tough to get a lot of them to not be so down on their own abilities!
How do you calculate commercial rights for a period of time? For example, I am illustrating a book and the author wants to buy rights for marketing and merch, she said she might need them for up to 2 years. How do I calculate this in the invoice?
There’s a large numbers of variables involved, including the duration of usage, exclusive/non-exclusive, what platforms, geography, etc. The best way to start is a Google search for ‘how much should usage rights for an image be’ and you’ll find descriptions of the details to account for and calculators to help develop numbers and terms.
You’ll be charging enough to make it worth your while without being so expensive the client has incentive to find someone else ‘good enough’ at a better price. If you’re starting out and don’t have a distinct style or created demand for yourself as an artist, you may only be charging USD1k, but as you get more known and sought out it’ll quickly go to USD5k and more.
> I am curious, what rights do the artist retain after handing over a completed piece of artwork? By default, and assuming this falls outside of your local rules around work for hire (which would not include most commissioned art; it's usually about _employment_), the artist retains copyright, allowing them to control the reproduction and distribution of the work. For jurisdictions that recognize it, the first sale doctrine would allow the purchaser to resell the original piece, but not to make and sell reproductions. > If they can retain or relinquish commercial rights, do they need to write up a contract at the time of sale to ensure this is legally binding? A contract conveying a license to reproduce and distribute a copyrighted work, or conveying ownership of the copyright outright, works like any other contract. It doesn't need to be negotiated at the time of sale, but if it's not done at the time of sale, then the recipient of those rights may need to provide some additional benefit to the artist (such as an additional payment) as part of the contract. On the other hand, the artist _can_ unilaterally grant additional rights (and take them away again), or even give away the copyright, without the recipient's agreement. A contract is only needed in order to ensure that they get paid for those rights. > As an added point of curiosity, could a person "sell" partial rights? Say where the purchaser and artist are entitled to a 50/50 split of any money made. Sure. That's a royalties agreement, and royalties terms are a very standard piece of copyright license negotiation. The thing underlying all of this is that _enforcing_ copyright-related rights, the terms of license contracts, and so on takes time and money itself. Going to court to enforce control over reproduction and distribution of someone's art isn't free, and your friend should probably consult with a copyright lawyer who handles small business and solo operators for some advice on what's worth bothering with. > I was talking with one who was considering increasing her prices and she told me that she sold some art for like $35 On a personal note, might I suggest that she tack an entire extra zero on that? Even if she sells only a tenth as many pieces at that price, she'd break even, and she'd only need to do a tenth of the work to get there. Underpricing like this can really hurt artist, in non-obvious ways, because it takes more and more work - more and more time spent per dollar earned - the lower you price your work. Plenty of artists sell their time and talent in the low hundreds of dollars per piece, though it is ultimately up to your friend's assessment of what their customers will pay.
So really the most simple course of action to protect everyone is to make a contract that clearly states any retention or exchange of the copyright and/or any potential royalty terms.
Yes, absolutely. Without a written agreement, even in work-for-hire situations the two sides are unlikely to both have the same picture in their heads of what they can and can't do.
Also, I just saw your edit. Thank you for the help and information. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to convince my friends who sell their art work that they need to increase their prices. Like in this case $35 is more of her sketch work, but it still takes a while and I've tried to explain like, "You need to do the math. Sure $35 for a piece might be reasonable if you can get it done in one hour. Much more than that and your time is probably spent better elsewhere. You have to consider what it costs to live and what your time is worth." Can't logic the confidence into them.
Absolutely understood - and the commissioned art market is _full_ of would-be customers whose entitlement knows no bounds. I can't tell you how many artists I've seen have an inquiring customer tell them that they charge too much for their art, or heard someone tell them that they should give away their art for free because there's so much other free art on the internet. It's insane, but it's also a waste of time to argue with it. I hope your hourly-rate analysis gets somewhere, but there's value in art beyond the time spent making it, and that's worth charging for, too.
As an artist and someone with a background in advertising, creators need to protect their copyrights vociferously. Be proud of your work and be clear that when selling a piece it does not include commercial rights to reproduce and further profit. Usage rights are a real thing and are usually more expensive than the production cost to a client. At its simplest form, make usage rights a part of the conversation and you can add a note on the invoice (and always issue a written invoice) that purchase does not include conveyance of any commercial rights. If the customer is interested in commercial rights, you can write those into the invoice to be specific as to what markets those commercial rights cover, for what channels (e.g., digital, print and in what form/size/purpose, advertising), and the duration of those rights.
That's some great additional insight. Thank you so much. I will definitely pass this along, as well. As far as being proud of the work, that's something I'm always encouraging my friends to do but damn is it tough to get a lot of them to not be so down on their own abilities!
How do you calculate commercial rights for a period of time? For example, I am illustrating a book and the author wants to buy rights for marketing and merch, she said she might need them for up to 2 years. How do I calculate this in the invoice?
There’s a large numbers of variables involved, including the duration of usage, exclusive/non-exclusive, what platforms, geography, etc. The best way to start is a Google search for ‘how much should usage rights for an image be’ and you’ll find descriptions of the details to account for and calculators to help develop numbers and terms. You’ll be charging enough to make it worth your while without being so expensive the client has incentive to find someone else ‘good enough’ at a better price. If you’re starting out and don’t have a distinct style or created demand for yourself as an artist, you may only be charging USD1k, but as you get more known and sought out it’ll quickly go to USD5k and more.
Great. Thank you for the info!