Licensing art

[kiriska.livejournal.com]

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?

Comments

[insane-kangaroo.livejournal.com]

Or just charge him a one time use fee if he has the money upfront.

I don't know about gametops, but I know about photography. Photos can range from $50-300USD for use in a book. i.e. My friend's photo of a garden in Japan featuring a Shisa statute was licensed to a book publisher for $250.

[sigilgoat.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who publishes gaming books and I believe he does a flat rate. For his first book there were like...30 black and white images that were fairly small, all things considered (filling up corners and what not) and I believe he paid something like 400-500$ for the whole thing. It worked out for everyone and there were no complications from it. They added on a full color cover after that for another 100-200$

Charge whatever YOU feel comfortable with, and I'd suggest doing it as a whole lump sum instead of individual images and he needs to tell you exactly what he needs so you can make up your quote. Might want to make it a bit higher in case he tries to talk you down.

[fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com]

You could also do a NON EXCLUSIVE license where you allow him to use the images for a one time, one printing use. If he goes to a second printing, he'll pay you again. meantime you can sell prints, license it for other uses etc. You grant the license at a much lower rate than exclusive use.

if he's not keen on this, you could potentially go with including not re-licensing it in same format (books) until X number of years have passed, while you're still free to license it in all over formats. There's some big commercial artists that do this as I've seen same art in two different unrelated properties... but are different formats.

That's easier to do if you have lots of projects and can potentially do that, but it is harder to keep track of. However, it does potentially mean you can resell the same image to multiple clients. (if you work digital, its even easier if you have characters and backgrounds saved separately. Mix and match!)

[stormslegacy.livejournal.com]

For your percentages idea, maybe do what papal does and charge a minimum (say, $5 per image) PLUS something like %5. this way a $20 pic is $6 for licensing but the more expensive pics are comparatively more as well. Lastly, I'd calculate the cover separate if you were responsible for that because it's the face of the product and worth a LOT more.

[hellebore.livejournal.com]

I've done this before. First: How much is he willing to drop ,and is he funded for this project? Where's he getting the money from?

[houndofloki.livejournal.com]

If this book is self-published (sounds like it is based on "very indie") it's not likely that he'll sell more then a handful; self-published RPG books are a dime a dozen and the vast majority don't go anywhere except the author's mom's attic. So I wouldn't accept anything like royalties or prints-exclusivity in lieu of cash.

At the same time though, you probably don't want to charge the same rates you'd charge for pro work to a dude doing what's basically a vanity project, because the level of distribution isn't really comparable and he probably can't afford it anyway.

I think the idea of a flat rate for the entire book sounds most fair for both of you.

[ursulav.livejournal.com]

Indie RPGs are notorious for never paying royalties.That's just the market reality. Get it up front, or half up-front, half on publication. Yes, it will add up quickly. That it not your problem. Art is a thing you budget for in RPGs. That he wants a lot of art does not create a moral obligation on your behalf. Cut him a bulk rate, if you must, but get the vast majority up front, because the odds of you seeing royalties are very very low.

[m-o-w.livejournal.com]

Licensing fee would be 5% of what, for what?

[spiffystuff.livejournal.com]

Charge what you're comfortable with.

No really, charge what it's worth to you to do it!

From my experience with small RPGs, they are in some ways easier than individual character commissioners because they aren't that picky and there's a lot of creative license. On the down side, be careful of an arrangement where you end up with way more work than you can handle because of a bulk fee (this hasn't happened to me but seems like it could happen).

So what I'm saying is, if you end up just adding a little bit to your usual commission prices, like only 5%, that may not be such a terrible thing, provided your usual commission prices work well for you. Yes it's not a lot extra on the other hand if it's a lot of images it's a lot of guaranteed work that should be easy to bang out (again, provided working with this guy is okay)

[dave-t-wolfe.livejournal.com]

Not seeing your work or knowing your professional position in the art world, it is hard to say what you should charge. But from a business view, the RPG company (they should be licensed) will want full rights to the artwork. That means they can use the artwork for other things then just the RPG book. You can contract (in writing on real paper, not e-mails or something over the internet) to allow the limited use of the artwork only for that RPG book and not to be use for anything else. That seems the best from what I'm reading from you. I would also suggest that you get a written agreement from the company for EXACTLY what they want; style, type of work, quantity and time schedule. Make sure they did not include any exceptions (small print). You do have the right to line out anything in the contract you do not agree too before you sign. Then give them 30 days to agree to your changes and provide you with an advance payment.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is GET A WRITTEN CONTRACT!

[gymnopedie.livejournal.com]

I do these often, I just finished a batch of 30 drawings (black and white, line work, some shading in ink, mostly quarter page)

We went by batch.

I quoted X for 4 1/2 page, Y for the 2 full page, and Z for the 24 1/4pages. It worked out to about 500~. Keep into account you'll have to do thumbs, sketches, making sure they all flow together, emails, and find out (if doing traditional), if you can sell the originals to collectors. I rarely ever have to send the originals off. If you do this and you yourself have a decent base of people wanting artwork, you can sell them off after he gets them printed and X time passes, and make some money off of those as well. It's what I'm doing with the pieces I just did - a few are definitely sellable as stand alone art.

Do NOT collect royalties, up front only (half at start, half at the end). Unless if they've got a booth at GenCon or one of the other major gaming cons, they'll barely ever sell enough to make it worth your time. And don't do art for Savage Mojo company if you start doing more work, they're royalty only and wind up changing half way down the road what it is you'll be doing with them.

Keep in mind to keep it a little reasonable, interior art for this industry doesn't pay all that well unless if it's the BIG guys, that you can make a bit of cash off of it too. They sometimes often will come back for MORE art for the players book, or the super expansion of this dungeon, etcetc, so there could be possible work down the road a few months later.

[holydust.livejournal.com]

I've done work like this for a lovely client who has a lot of promise in this field. But, knowing I'm so disorganized, I went ahead and offered him a flat rate on each pic. It was actually less than my standard rate because he a) ordered in bulk for his website and b) he's a repeat customer.

Royalties are kind of a pain to deal with, and the risks kind of outweigh the benefits. The chance that it'll blow up and you'll kick yourself later are slim. I'd go with the flat rate up front and build a working relationship.

[kriscynical.livejournal.com]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet or not, but I would really recommend picking up a copy of The Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines (http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Artists-Handbook-Pricing-Guidelines/dp/0932102158/ref=pd_sim_b_6). It has full explanations of things like licensing and common business practices for graphic artists as well as form contracts in the back that are free for your own use. This thing is my professional Bible.