being under 18 and commissioning + fixing the TOS

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

Well first off, i am under 18 and i commission people quite often.
My girlfriend  (She is 18) has agreed to take the responsibility upon herself and I will pay the artists with my own money (note; we share a paypal account). Now, is this fair? As an artist, would you be okay with this?
This isnt for adult images, by the way lol i dont commission for things like that.

As well as that, Me and Ayriea (my girlfriend) Edited our TOS recently. We would like to know if there is anything we should re-word, add, or fix. you can read it here on FA: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2075964/
We would also like to know what a good site would be to host our TOS so that we are not stuck with FA since it can crash at any time.

Comments

[anjel-kitty.livejournal.com]

As long as you aren't commissioning any adult art I don't see this as a problem. If you have commissioned adult art in circumstances for you and your girlfriend, it could be potentially a legal morass for the artist.

[claytronic.livejournal.com]

seconding what anjel said

[wingsofjudas.livejournal.com]

Agreeing with the others, as long as it's not adult art you're fine!

Purchasing, selling, and shipping adult art can cause problems depending on your jurisdiction (this applies ot any age of the parties involved). Add "minors" into the mix and things can get pretty sticky. Paypal also has rules against being used for adult materials and using it to pay for or be paid for adult art can actually get your account suspended. I know it's happened to a number of people on FA.

[vellacraptor.livejournal.com]

A good service I've seen many people (and I myself) use is google documents.

[everainsley]

Seconding Google Docs.

It's been amazingly helpful with... pretty much all business related things.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

thanks! I'll try to figure it out XD

[munemunenyo.livejournal.com]

Thirding~

[genkigami.livejournal.com]

If it's not for adult images, and your GF is the one taking the reins, then I as an artist would be very very wary. Because if something goes wrong, legally your GF would take the fall, awkward for both of you ensues, and it's just not a pleasant situation for everyone involved. I'd probably either proceed with caution or say no.

But I'm naturally a pessimist and most others probably wouldn't see it as a problem, so you should be fine as long as you're not commissioning adult art.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

The problem is that legally i cannot enter a contract, being a minor (or so it seems?). This makes it a bit of a problem when it comes to me commissioning fursuits and larger pieces since many artists don't want to have that to deal with.

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

I personally, would rather not do business with minors. I would also feel uncomfortable entering a deal with someone who is covering for a minor, and isn't their legal guardian or parent. Unless a contract is involved, I just don't like the idea.

That's just my own personal experience. I simply do not feel safe doing business with someone under 18, or for someone covering for them. Adult art, or not.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. This is kind of to keep my father out of my commissions in a sense, he's not so smart with computers so it would be very hard to have him cover for me. I guess if its someone i really want to commission who will not work with minors, it will be best to just have my father vouch for me or something.

[ocelotish]

This is my thought. There's not much I could do except say "By entering this contract you are agreeing you're an adult capable of making a contract," but that isn't a great defense, because, let's be honest, kids lie about that. However, it does shift the culpability on them giving you a bit of protection.

I'd be very hesitant without a blood relative too, just because if something happens in a friendship or a relationship to end it, then who am I dealing with? On the other hand with a blood relative that's much less common (at least with the blood relative you'd choose to cover for you).

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

I'm perfectly fine doing commissions with minors, but I guess that's because when I first started doing commissions, I was late 16 or just turned 17 and only this year turned 18.

Other then not being able have a contract with a minor, what are the things to be worried about? I'm honestly asking since I have no idea. The only think I could think of is immaturity, but I see it with tons of adults as well.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

I think the biggest problem would be the contract issue, considering MANY adults are immature (especially furries lol).
I think its a huge issue that many minors (and young people in general) dont have a job and/or tend to use money they dont really have, which is why many people dont do work with them. Since minors cannot enter a contract, things could get very messy very quickly.

[excessdenied0.livejournal.com]

If you'll permit me to be honest and subjective here...
As an artist who frequently works on commission, I have no problem dealing with minors so long as they have a paypal and are not asking for anything unusually high-dollar or adult. I would recommend that you buy any images yourself, and keep them under $50 and non-adult. So long as you do that, you're in no danger of losing any large sum of money, and most artists won't have any issues with doing work for you. Involving a third party in transactions like this is asking for trouble, because any time you buy art it is subject to the whims of another person. With girlfriends/boyfriends this can get especially sticky, even if you've been with them for a long time. I know that when someone buys art from me, I let the payee have the final say. You might not mind that risk with a small drawing, but would you really want to take that chance with something you paid hundreds for?

As far as buying very expensive investment commissions... I would say just wait. You're under 18 anyways, so you could actually outgrow a fursuit within a few years of buying it, and it may be to your advantage to buy something like that when you are leaning more towards your 20's. At that point, you'll be fully capable of signing legal contracts, and that would significantly decrease your chances of losing money in a bad transaction.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

Actually I cannot outgrow a fursuit XD I'm not growing anymore due to a bone disorder.

Honestly, with custom art...$50 is quite cheap D8 Then again I guess with furries it's...expensive?

[clockworkshadow.livejournal.com]

I don't have an issue myself with working with minors as long as no adult art is involved. I don't do much to begin with, so it's not much of a concern.

My two cents on a fursuit: Make your own! It's fun as hell, and if you're afraid of not making a decent head base, shop around, people like OneEyedDoe make resin bases, and you can purchase a premade head and fur it yourself. That way if you outgrow it like excessdenied0 mentioned, you didn't spend tons of money. A yard of fur goes a loooooong way.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

As I have said to excessdenied0, I'm not growing anymore XD I have a bone disorder and havent grown in over 4 years.

[temrin.livejournal.com]

You can always download and use dropbox.com. You can simply link it from your public folder and people can see it if you give them a link to it :3

[crssafox.livejournal.com]

The whole subject of a contract with minors is a pretty tricky one, especially when it comes to high dollar items. Like you say, lots of fursuit builders won't do it. I don't take commissions from anyone under the age of 18 unless they have a parent or guardian working directly with me and them during the process.

In my opinion, the whole contract issue would raise all sorts of troubles for other things including the warranty on items. As has been seen in some communities here on LJ, sometimes minors don't treat their property with respect, and completely damage their costumes. What do you do then? Is the warranty void because a minor has no regard for how to treat the product and does damage to it? Or is it on the maker for not using the proper quality materials since the minor was planning to be hard on the pieces from the get-go?

What I have in my TOS, then, is that minors are allowed to buy any items that are pre-made or available on auction sites, since those are being sold "as is" for the most part. If a commissioner is a minor, but they either lie or they don't make it known they are not yet of legal age and I complete their commission for them, but then find out they're not 18 yet (this has happened to me) then I consider the entire transaction to be an "as is" purchase as well and will not warranty it since I was not provided with vital information. If I find out during the process I reserve the right to refund and cancel the commission if a legal guardian does not get involved in the process.

I think the biggest thing is being up front with people you are thinking of commissioning. Some people might be fine with your arrangement, others might not be. Honesty is always the best idea. :)

[excessdenied0.livejournal.com]

I second this. If you are planning to buy large items from people anyways, just make sure they know that you're a minor! Honesty goes a long way towards making people comfortable. :) You may be surprised to find that it's the deciding factor in whether or not an artist is willing to work with you.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

Personally, i already have two fursuits and know exactly how to care for them and fix them if anything happens to them. I see that many minors are just....not responsible lol but I'm glad that there are some people that are willing to work with them when it comes to large items, at least to an extent.

[mialattia.livejournal.com]

If you tell this to any artist you work with, then they can decide for themselves. I advise being entirely upfront with the arrangement; artists feel more comfortable if you ensure that they know you're covering not only your bases as a minor, but the artist's bases in ensuring they get paid by a legal adult.

[flarveon.livejournal.com]

As someone who bought a fursuit at 15 and again at 17, with my own money - I honestly am on the artists side; against it.

SO LONG AS it is not larger pieces, adult art, etc I believe it is fine.

[poizenkat.livejournal.com]

May I ask why you are against it?