Sorry for all the questions lately but this group really gives good feedback lol
Anyway something else that I've been pondering. I'm one of those people that has some weird fetishes and such and like to commission some weird out of the ordinary pics from artists. I'm a little self-conscious about when the pic gets done and posted because I'm a little afraid of what other people put in the comments. I know there's that thing about "if you don't like it, dont comment", yet there always seems to be those few people that comment on a commission calling it weird and other stuff. I have asked for a few pics to be private in the past cause I wasnt ready to see the feedback on them but I'm much more open about sharing pics with others. However whenever I asked if a pic could be private, I would sometimes be told that there would be a privacy fee involved so instead of just paying the extra money, I just sucked it up and had it posted.
I guess my main question here is should artists allow commissioners to keep their pics private with no extra costs or should artists tag on a fee for commissioners requesting private pics?
Anyway something else that I've been pondering. I'm one of those people that has some weird fetishes and such and like to commission some weird out of the ordinary pics from artists. I'm a little self-conscious about when the pic gets done and posted because I'm a little afraid of what other people put in the comments. I know there's that thing about "if you don't like it, dont comment", yet there always seems to be those few people that comment on a commission calling it weird and other stuff. I have asked for a few pics to be private in the past cause I wasnt ready to see the feedback on them but I'm much more open about sharing pics with others. However whenever I asked if a pic could be private, I would sometimes be told that there would be a privacy fee involved so instead of just paying the extra money, I just sucked it up and had it posted.
I guess my main question here is should artists allow commissioners to keep their pics private with no extra costs or should artists tag on a fee for commissioners requesting private pics?
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Have you asked about letting the art be submitted, but just having the artist write, Commissioner wishes to remain anonymous rather than identifying you?
Is the art of your really recognizable character, if it's just of characters people don't know well you could ask them to leave the name -off- of who commissioned.
Agreeing with keeping the image anonymous to the owner as well if you are uncomfortable with whom might see your name attached to it.
However, before I ceased taking them I charged a fee. %10 of the final value, or $10, whichever was higher. Every image is an advertisement of my skill, and in by keeping it private the client is removing some of my advertising for it. The artist should be properly compensated for it.
On the 16th or so I Noted her to ask if he'd seen it yet because I wanted to post it. Then all of a sudden she wanted it to be totally private and not posted anywhere. I informed her of the clause in my TOS that has been there for about a year and she got mad about it and didn't want to pay it. I gave her two options... 1. I post the image as is and just not name the characters or link back to her. 2. I would take the male character back down to sketch level and de-color it and take parts of the lineart for her character back to sketch (leaving some details customizable) and I would re-sell the YCH and she could keep her version private and not pay the fee. Neither was good for her, in the first, others could see it, and in the second she thought it was 'unfair' to resell the same pose. In the end I stuck to my TOS and posted the image (not linking to her).
So to keep this on topic... I believe that she was so frantic to keep it private because she didn't have permission for his character to be in it. Now I post a link to my TOS when I upload a YCH sketch for sale and I also ask the customer to either get the other person to Note me to give me permission, or I Note them myself.
Edited at 2014-04-01 10:05 pm (UTC)
If someone doesn't care and is fine with doing it for free, that's great and their choice. You just can't expect it from everyone. And make sure you tell the artist you would like to not have it posted before anything is agreed to, instead of springing it on them after the fact.
So I enacted a $20 privacy fee that guarantees I will never post the picture anywhere ever. The only catch, is that if the customer decides to post it after all, the fee isn't refundable and I can then post the image as well should I want to.
Mostly it is to dissuade people from asking for private commissions since I like to post the things I work hard on. However, if a customer just doesn't want people to know that they commissioned the picture, I do agree to not link back to their account or name them in any way... such is the deal with the "Pokemon Regional" comic that I produce. The customer wishes to remain anonymous, so I just say "Story by Anon" in the description... and if anyone wants to pass on compliments to the customer, I just forward the message to the email I have for them.
IMHO, the most important thing is for the commissioner to be up front and direct with the artist if there are any restrictions they want regarding the art. The artist has every right to charge extra for any such conditions of the commission which are out of their usual terms (including "private" works), and, honestly, it's just good business for them to do so, as it does limit their ability to use it as self-advertising, not to mention for artists who stream their work, suddenly they have to not stream when they are working on it, etc...
In other words, "should they?" That's entirely up to them, but even from my non-artist, commissioner's point of view, I'd think it's generally good business practice. "Can they?" Absolutely. In fact, as some other commenters mentioned, it's entirely within the rights of an artist to flat-out refuse such commissions, just as it is in your rights to walk away from the deal, as well, if you can't come to a meeting of the minds on the terms.
The fact is, you are making a copyright related request for something you do not have the copyright to. Yes, you have the trademark for the characters, but you do not have copyright to the publication and distribution of the image itself.
Not all commissioners charge this fee, but it is not wrong for them, to do so, there is nothing you are being 'swindled' out of, if that's what you're ultimately concerned about.
If the artist feels that loss of advertisement and print revenue worth money, they will charge you and it's just something you have to deal with or don't commission those artists.
so i dunno. i'd be okay posting things as work from anonymous commissioners if people wanted their fetish stuff kept secret.