Advice- art dolls made from original species?

[jaywalkings.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone ;w;! I'm looking for a bit of advice and I was hoping I could find some here. uwu

Recently I've been auctioning adoptables of an original species of mine, and I was contacted by a reputable art doll maker looking to make art dolls out of them. They want to turn them into resin cast art dolls and sell batches of them, relying on me to make the designs, and in return they'll pay me $10 (the usual SB/flatrate I sell each design for) for each one, adding an additional $20 for each one that sells (making it $30, or my usual autobuy in the auctions).

I'm not complaining about it and personally think it's a fair price, but at the same time considering they'll be profiting off my original idea, should I be charging any extra for usage rights or etc? What I'm worried about is if she ever raises the price on them, and profits even more off my original idea- should there be a contract of some sort for something like this or even just overall for this kind of agreement? If so, what should it consist of and how would I go about doing one? I've never done anything like this before so I'm a mix of nervous and excited, haha.

Thank you so much in advance for any responses, I really appreciate the help /w\!

Comments

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

I have absolutely no experience with regards to what is a fair price for a design that is made into a tangible good, so hopefully someone else can give you advice on that aspect.

What I will say however is that you will absolutely need a binding contract for both your sakes.

It should define clearly the price she pays you per design/unit sold (whatever you agree on) and whether there is a LIMIT in how many units she can make of each design or amount of time you grant her permission to use these designs. Since you're also concerned if she raises her prices, it's worth adding a clause that the cost for rights to your design will need to be renegotiated if she raises her own.
Additionally it should also specify the designs in question you are giving usage rights for.

[harcroft.livejournal.com]

I would have thought negotiating a percentage of either profits or purchase price would deal with the issue of what happens if the price rises...

[shukivengeance.livejournal.com]

I was just letting the OP know that adding a clause on the matter was an option because they seemed concerned about it. Why is that an issue to you?

[matrices.livejournal.com]

This is sort of related, but I am curious of the thoughts on a person making a fursuit from adoptables, that happens too. Original species or not, those designs are made into a tangible good.

[trunchbull.livejournal.com]

That depends on the owner of the adoptables. If the person making the fursuit bought the adoptable, they can make their fursuit or have someone making it for them. If they havent bought it yet, and it is still for sale, I believe it is up to them to either contact the seller with permission to make the suit, or buy the adoptable. If they want to make a fursuit of an adoptable someone else bought, they would have to contact that buyer with request permission to make a fursuit based off of the adoptable.

[lovelesskiax.livejournal.com]

I don't know much about these things, but to protect yourself and them from possible problems in the future, defiantly get a written contract!
And if you're scared of them making more of a profit than you think is fair, try and get royalties instead. That way you get whatever percent you'd prefer of the profit no matter how much she charges for them.

[slr2moons.livejournal.com]

You need to talk to a lawyer, one who specializes in art, copyright, and/or licensing.

I agree with the others that royalties are the way to go.

DEFINITELY get professional help from an actual lawyer with this. You don't want to be screwed over. You might hesitate to pay the lawyer's fees, but imagine how much it would cost you to try to get the rights to your art back because of lack of proper contracts, or if the doll maker earns hundreds of thousands of dollars while you get a pittance. Ouch.

Good luck!

[sunhawk.livejournal.com]

What sort of adoptables are we talking about? Unless they are very simple and quick for you to do, $10 for the rights to make resin casts sounds really low. How much do they intend to sell these resin figures for? Without knowing that, it's difficult to know if the $20 per item is fair or not.

Usually people pay at least a couple hundred for the rights to a specific design that they intend to sell on their own products, so at the very least I think your $10 sounds really low even with the sale bonus, which then you'll have to trust them to be accurate with their sales figures to get your cut. It's sometimes easier/simpler to just get the client to pay a one-time upfront fee rather than have to possibly chase after them for future payments.

Definitely for sure get everything in writing and sign a contract. I've heard of contracts with limited run clauses, like the dollmaker would get to make up to a certain amount of casts and then you have to renegoiate the contract (even if you end up just resigning to the same terms) but I wouldn't know the specifics needed for that particular kind of art transaction.

[wolf5321.livejournal.com]

As others have said, definitely get a written contract. Though just to add it might be a smart idea to re-negotiate a percentage that you would get off of each doll sale rather than just a flat fee. That way, in case she ever does decide to raise her prices, you in turn gain some benefit to that.

[Edit] I see now royalties have already been talked about up above. My bad xD

[tealmoonxiv.livejournal.com]

What kind of dolls would they be? I've seen resin dolls go from $25-$1000+

How much was she planning on selling them for?

[thecreativepen.livejournal.com]

In this case, you need a lot more information. How much does she plan on selling these for? What kind of future profits are you entitled to? Is it better for you two to work out royalties or a fee per sale like they've suggested? For all you know, you're getting a few $10 bills added to your Paypal every now and then, while she's profiting big time.

You need a contract in this case. If you cannot afford a lawyer, I would suggest researching online how to create one that protects both you and her. In this case, I'd suggest working out a percentage system; that way, if she raises the price, then you are still getting the same percentage no matter what it is. Eg: 10%- You'd get $1 on $10, $10 on $100, $100 on $1,000, ect.

[thecreativepen.livejournal.com]

Also, this is just an example; I'd suggest more than 10%, but I'm horrible at math. Easier example for me, haha.

[pekoeko.livejournal.com]

Okay, as others have said, you need more info.
This person sounds like they wanna do this quick, so to me, that would be a red flag that they are aware of contracts and whatnot, and would rather sell you on an idea fast so they don't have to pay as much.

BUT. Find out what they're going to make on these, for sure.
If they're honest on what they're selling for, do not take a flat sale price. You are basically designing the dolls, not them. They're merely the maker/distributor. The rights to the design belong to you.

Selling them for 10 bucks doesn't make much sense. I'd say go with a percentage for each doll instead (10-15% per) though that's still largely dependent on if they're honest about their sales prices.

Either way, whether the prices change or not, there should be a contract for this.