Question related to the Syrae thread.

[torinir2.livejournal.com]

With the Syrae thread devolving into a copyright war of words, I figured it was time ask this question. I separated it from the Syrae thread since it might be useful for both artists and commissioners to take note of this discussion.

What are the rules of the land as far as commissioned artwork involving the commissioner's character(s)? I would assume that the commissioner has some recourse when dealing with works involving his/her characters, and the artist has some recourse available by default, but who has the final say as to who can do what with the finished product, in terms of alterations, etc? What kind of timeframe should a commissioner hold for approaching the artist for changes, and when would it be a DIY case?

I'm not talking about generic artwork commissions, I'm speaking of commissions involving characters whose "existence" predates the artwork being commissioned.

Comments

[duskychaos.livejournal.com]

I was told to avoid Work For Hire when possible, as you will NOT be able to make any derivative works of your original artwork thereafter.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

It can be apples and pears really.

I can say that my WOH projects have done very well at putting food on my table and a roof over my head.

I do think it is a personal choice that each artist needs to make for themselves.

[ursulav.livejournal.com]

Eh, it depends on what you're doing. I made a living doing it for years, and the money spends as well as anything, nor have I ever felt the lack of being able to do a derivative work of thirty pages of tadpole illustrations or all those generic thugs with guns, or that abandoned battleship that the client kept asking for more and more fog over (I should have bloody well just handed him a grey canvas...) This was not work I was emotionally invested in--I had a skill of making recognizable drawings, and the clients handed me contracts asking for their specific need, and I filled it. This is the illustratorial equivalent of ditch-digging. I was not creating deathless art for the ages.

Frankly, I can only think of maybe two paintings from that whole era that I even LIKED, and neither of them I'd want to duplicate.

But your mileage may vary. If you can't do something for somebody and then walk away and never think of it again, then you probably shouldn't take work for hire contracts.