Question Regarding Album Artwork

Aug. 24th, 2011 at 7:09 AM

So I'm in a position right now where I rather desperately need commissions, and accepted one from a commissioner who wanted a transparent background. I said that was ok, and we sorted out details of the commission.

Turns out it might be used for album art - is this something I should have charged extra for? Their userpage lists them as 14 so I'm not entirely concerned that I'll lose out on money if I should have charged more, but I figured I'd ask in case this came up in the future.

Thanks in advance!

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Comments

( 21 comments — Leave a comment )

marus_puppy

Aug. 26th, 2011 02:20 am (UTC)

It is definitely something that should be charging extra for, since that becomes the "face" of the album and you, as the artist, are arguably responsible for the album sales (it's like picking up a book at the library. If it has an interesting cover, you're going to want to at least read the summary.)

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animecat

Aug. 26th, 2011 02:34 am (UTC)

You know, you actually have the right to dictate what happens to said artwork. Unless the client purchased the rights to the artwork you did for them and has it in writing signed by you, they don't have a legal leg to stand on, and if they attempt to use the work you can file suit against them for copyright infringement and damages.

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celarania

Aug. 26th, 2011 02:34 am (UTC)

I'm not sure what you can do as you legally can't make a contract with a minor.

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oceandezignz

Aug. 26th, 2011 03:20 am (UTC)

This is my first concern. I mean, no big deal if it was a one off commission, but album art automatically becomes "commercial" pretty much and "commercial" is a whole other ballgame than doing a one-off deal via something like FA Notes.

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teahound

Aug. 26th, 2011 09:59 am (UTC)

Yeah his age was my biggest concern. He was asking if I could give it a transparent background so he could use it as album art; could I maybe say that while he can make album art with it (for say, an FA submission image or something), he cannot use it for commercial album art? I feel like maybe that'd be a good compromise...

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violatekate

Aug. 26th, 2011 02:38 am (UTC)

I always state in my TOS that all art is for personal use only. I also state that for commercial use, they must contact me privately to negotiate pricing. And yes, you should charge more for it.

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teahound

Aug. 26th, 2011 10:00 am (UTC)

Yeah I was actually in the middle of re-writing mine - some pretty urgent stuff came up and I wish I'd finished my TOS first...

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shukivengeance

Aug. 26th, 2011 03:28 am (UTC)

You own the copyright to the image and cannot enter a contract with a minor, so simply inform them that they don't have permission to use the image commercially or as anything representative etc.

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teahound

Aug. 26th, 2011 10:03 am (UTC)

*nodnod* The age was indeed my biggest concern. as I said to Xaila above, would a good compromise be to say that while he can use it for non-commercial album art like for FA submissions, using it commercially is out of the question because of the legal problems?

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shukivengeance

Aug. 26th, 2011 04:36 pm (UTC)

Uploading to FA would count as personal use so yeah, this sounds reasonable. Since they're young you may have to explain the difference between personal and commercial, hopefully they'll be happy enough with that compromise.

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carms_lady

Aug. 26th, 2011 06:51 am (UTC)

Agreed with Shuki. A typical contract for art that's to be used commercially entails receiving a portion of its sales (by either percentage or as one large lump sum in the beginning, though the latter method is not recommended because you never know if they'll turn into the next Beiber or something), something that cannot legally be agreed upon with a minor. Good luck!

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teahound

Aug. 26th, 2011 10:05 am (UTC)

Thanks - I think I've worked something out above; I'll talk to the commissioner today about it.

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lurkerwisp

Aug. 26th, 2011 02:14 pm (UTC)

The latter method is very recommended when there is the risk that they'll sell one to their grandma, one to each of their friends, and the rest will never see the light of day. :)

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spiffystuff

Aug. 28th, 2011 03:18 pm (UTC)

Paying royalties is one way to do it - the other way is to sell the copyright. Might be easier for a non-corporation to take care of, but I don't know how much of a contract that counts of and if being a minor complicates that...

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wolf_goat

Aug. 26th, 2011 07:08 am (UTC)

You should work it out as commercial, but I am more than willing to bet that this person's "album" will make less than the cost of the art they commissioned. :P

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teahound

Aug. 26th, 2011 10:04 am (UTC)

Agreed - it was mainly them being a minor that made things sticky.

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aurastarlucario

Aug. 26th, 2011 03:25 pm (UTC)

You can do whatever you want with it- it's your art.
You drew it. It's yours.

If they come after you for it, just tell them that politely. c:

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teahound

Aug. 26th, 2011 04:25 pm (UTC)

This reply confuses me; I'm not sure how it relates to what I asked...?

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aurastarlucario

Aug. 26th, 2011 05:44 pm (UTC)

Oh God, I'm so sorry...:c
Sometimes I process things differently than most. Please don't be mad. ;3;

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ogawaburukku

Aug. 27th, 2011 01:55 am (UTC)

If he's not planning on putting the CD up on iTunes and he's mostly just giving the album out to friends and such, I don't think it's a big deal. But you might tell him if he does plan on putting the album up for sale at online shops and retailers he should pay extra, since I don't think you're going to get much in the ways of royalties from a kid.

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teahound

Sep. 29th, 2011 05:22 am (UTC)

Sorry for the late reply, but I am talking with him at the moment and he says that as far as his original music goes, he does have it up somewhere with the consumer being able to choose any price from $0 up. Do you think it's reasonable, since generally people are choosing $0, to just let him use it since I doubt I'll be losing out on any royalties?

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