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artists_beware2011-07-22 10:51 am
kiriska.livejournal.com) wrote in artists_beware2011-07-22 10:51 am
Entry tags:
Licensing art
Okay. Looking for advice about licensing commissioned art to the commissioner commercial use.
So I am potentially going to be doing a lot of art for a guy making a tabletop RPG -- he'll be using all of the art in a guidebook that will eventually be for sale. Since this is something a lot of people want to do and since I don't know enough about the project to really form an opinion about how likely it is to be commercially successful, I would rather not deal with royalty payments that may or may not ever happen and would prefer a lump sum one-time licensing fee per image.
The guy pointed out that a flat-rate fee per image (in addition to the cost of the commission itself) would add up quickly for him, since he would need dozens and dozens of images. I understand this, and I understand that this is a very indie project and that he isn't a big business with lots of funds. I do want to be as reasonable and fair to him as possible, but I want to be fair to myself as well, and in the event that this guidebook is wildly successful, I don't want to have given away usage of the art for little more than what the art itself cost.
So I'm not really sure what would be a good compromise. I was thinking about percentages, like maybe a 5% licensing fee on top of the cost of each image, though some of the smaller images would be something like $20, so 5% is only a dollar, which seems.. silly? I don't know.
Advice?
So I am potentially going to be doing a lot of art for a guy making a tabletop RPG -- he'll be using all of the art in a guidebook that will eventually be for sale. Since this is something a lot of people want to do and since I don't know enough about the project to really form an opinion about how likely it is to be commercially successful, I would rather not deal with royalty payments that may or may not ever happen and would prefer a lump sum one-time licensing fee per image.
The guy pointed out that a flat-rate fee per image (in addition to the cost of the commission itself) would add up quickly for him, since he would need dozens and dozens of images. I understand this, and I understand that this is a very indie project and that he isn't a big business with lots of funds. I do want to be as reasonable and fair to him as possible, but I want to be fair to myself as well, and in the event that this guidebook is wildly successful, I don't want to have given away usage of the art for little more than what the art itself cost.
So I'm not really sure what would be a good compromise. I was thinking about percentages, like maybe a 5% licensing fee on top of the cost of each image, though some of the smaller images would be something like $20, so 5% is only a dollar, which seems.. silly? I don't know.
Advice?
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For example, I wouldn't charge family quite as much as I would strangers for the same work because I don't mind working for less for people that have supported me.
It still takes me the same amount of time, but it's a different circumstance. There are people who don't take those things into consideration though, which is 100% okay!
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No. It's why you pick and choose who you wind up working for. Paizo, WotC and WhiteWolf pay more, yes, but you also need the chops to be able to get into them. They also require crazy detail, large sweeping scenes, and lots of colors. The smaller guys - the good ones at least that pay not even 1/2 of what the others can - tend to only really require simple, black and white, art because they understand time = money spent. So the easier the art, the less they feel they need to pay someone.
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