Copyright Clarification

Feb. 22nd, 2012 12:18 am
[identity profile] myenia.livejournal.com

This is more of an advice post, since this community seems to have a wealth of copyright knowledge.

Years ago, I did an image for a forum I used to visit, which ended up being used on their front page. Recently, I found out that it was used without proper credit or permission in a magazine (without their knowledge until it was in print). Upon finding this out, and looking back to the forum, I found posts stating that the situation was being handled, though 4 days had passed and nobody had bothered contacting me.

My understanding is that, since the image was done free of cost, without prompting or organization, and without contract, the copyright is fully and completely mine. I of course posted the image on the forum stating that it was for their use on the front page. While it was years ago and I cannot clarify details (login no longer works), I know that nothing was legally or formally worked out, it was simply made as a gift for usage on the forum. If I understand copyright laws correctly, I retain my full copyright in doing so, while extending non-exclusive usage to the forum for the specified intent only. While they call this image their "logo" and it has the forum's initials in the background, I assume that without a contract specifying otherwise, rights stay with me and they do not "own" this image in any way.

If the above is true, this means that if a magazine printed my image, nobody should be"handling" it but me. Not that I mind their involvement... I understand that it may have some emotional significance to them, and for me, its old art that I care little about. What I do care about is that I feel I'm constantly battling people ignorant of copyright laws, assuming they own things that I own. I feel like a selfish jerk for having to explain this to them, but I also feel like I've had two parties step on my toes and try to claim my copyright, instead of just the one, which is incredibly frustrating.

So, are there any legal flaw in the above?

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Copyright Clarification

Feb. 22nd, 2012 12:18 am
[identity profile] myenia.livejournal.com

This is more of an advice post, since this community seems to have a wealth of copyright knowledge.

Years ago, I did an image for a forum I used to visit, which ended up being used on their front page. Recently, I found out that it was used without proper credit or permission in a magazine (without their knowledge until it was in print). Upon finding this out, and looking back to the forum, I found posts stating that the situation was being handled, though 4 days had passed and nobody had bothered contacting me.

My understanding is that, since the image was done free of cost, without prompting or organization, and without contract, the copyright is fully and completely mine. I of course posted the image on the forum stating that it was for their use on the front page. While it was years ago and I cannot clarify details (login no longer works), I know that nothing was legally or formally worked out, it was simply made as a gift for usage on the forum. If I understand copyright laws correctly, I retain my full copyright in doing so, while extending non-exclusive usage to the forum for the specified intent only. While they call this image their "logo" and it has the forum's initials in the background, I assume that without a contract specifying otherwise, rights stay with me and they do not "own" this image in any way.

If the above is true, this means that if a magazine printed my image, nobody should be"handling" it but me. Not that I mind their involvement... I understand that it may have some emotional significance to them, and for me, its old art that I care little about. What I do care about is that I feel I'm constantly battling people ignorant of copyright laws, assuming they own things that I own. I feel like a selfish jerk for having to explain this to them, but I also feel like I've had two parties step on my toes and try to claim my copyright, instead of just the one, which is incredibly frustrating.

So, are there any legal flaw in the above?

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Advice: Royalties/Proceeds?

Jan. 16th, 2012 11:19 pm
[identity profile] vellacraptor.livejournal.com
A friend, whom we will call K, recently wanted to hire me for a comic book. I told him if he gives me a portion of the profits, I'd sell it for 8$ per page, and if not then I'd sell it for 20$ per page. The pages are pre-layed out (though I'd probably have to do tweaking), and it'd only be inks. From what I understand I'd be fairly simple and around 28 pages. I figured since I wasn't getting the profits or anything after except my name on it if it went big, 20$ was a fair price considering most people charge 50$ per page at the low end of the pool.

He thought it was too expensive, said he could find someone cheaper, then after researching found what I told him about 50$ per page to be true. Still, since he'd be playing publisher, he wanted to try and get a cheaper price.

So my question is (considering he'd be selling the comics at around 2$ per book I believe) how much of the profits should I request? I think 10-20% of the profits is the average, but he's charging so low, I'm afraid I'll hardly get anything? Should I just stick to my higher price and not have to worry about calculating every book sold? Also, if I do decide to do the percentages, how long should it last?

Thanks!

UPDATE: We talked about it more...apparently he'd be taking the comic to comic con and selling it there, which would get lots of sales easily, and also selling it to a distributer. HOWEVER, with your advice and the fact that even with my limited knowledge I can tell K has no clue with what he's doing (and recent-past has made him somewhat on the bitter level as a friend, and showed his dislike/limited to no knowledge for legalities/professionalism), I am steering way clear of this project.

Thank you guys for all the help!
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Advice: Royalties/Proceeds?

Jan. 16th, 2012 11:19 pm
[identity profile] vellacraptor.livejournal.com
A friend, whom we will call K, recently wanted to hire me for a comic book. I told him if he gives me a portion of the profits, I'd sell it for 8$ per page, and if not then I'd sell it for 20$ per page. The pages are pre-layed out (though I'd probably have to do tweaking), and it'd only be inks. From what I understand I'd be fairly simple and around 28 pages. I figured since I wasn't getting the profits or anything after except my name on it if it went big, 20$ was a fair price considering most people charge 50$ per page at the low end of the pool.

He thought it was too expensive, said he could find someone cheaper, then after researching found what I told him about 50$ per page to be true. Still, since he'd be playing publisher, he wanted to try and get a cheaper price.

So my question is (considering he'd be selling the comics at around 2$ per book I believe) how much of the profits should I request? I think 10-20% of the profits is the average, but he's charging so low, I'm afraid I'll hardly get anything? Should I just stick to my higher price and not have to worry about calculating every book sold? Also, if I do decide to do the percentages, how long should it last?

Thanks!

UPDATE: We talked about it more...apparently he'd be taking the comic to comic con and selling it there, which would get lots of sales easily, and also selling it to a distributer. HOWEVER, with your advice and the fact that even with my limited knowledge I can tell K has no clue with what he's doing (and recent-past has made him somewhat on the bitter level as a friend, and showed his dislike/limited to no knowledge for legalities/professionalism), I am steering way clear of this project.

Thank you guys for all the help!
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Advice: Royalties/Proceeds?

Jan. 16th, 2012 11:19 pm
[identity profile] vellacraptor.livejournal.com
A friend, whom we will call K, recently wanted to hire me for a comic book. I told him if he gives me a portion of the profits, I'd sell it for 8$ per page, and if not then I'd sell it for 20$ per page. The pages are pre-layed out (though I'd probably have to do tweaking), and it'd only be inks. From what I understand I'd be fairly simple and around 28 pages. I figured since I wasn't getting the profits or anything after except my name on it if it went big, 20$ was a fair price considering most people charge 50$ per page at the low end of the pool.

He thought it was too expensive, said he could find someone cheaper, then after researching found what I told him about 50$ per page to be true. Still, since he'd be playing publisher, he wanted to try and get a cheaper price.

So my question is (considering he'd be selling the comics at around 2$ per book I believe) how much of the profits should I request? I think 10-20% of the profits is the average, but he's charging so low, I'm afraid I'll hardly get anything? Should I just stick to my higher price and not have to worry about calculating every book sold? Also, if I do decide to do the percentages, how long should it last?

Thanks!

UPDATE: We talked about it more...apparently he'd be taking the comic to comic con and selling it there, which would get lots of sales easily, and also selling it to a distributer. HOWEVER, with your advice and the fact that even with my limited knowledge I can tell K has no clue with what he's doing (and recent-past has made him somewhat on the bitter level as a friend, and showed his dislike/limited to no knowledge for legalities/professionalism), I am steering way clear of this project.

Thank you guys for all the help!
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Advice: Fanart

Nov. 14th, 2011 02:20 pm
[identity profile] purpule.livejournal.com
  • Current Mood: okay
A question/advice query for you all
I'm sure this is an age-old argument, but I'd like to bring it up again because I always appreciate advice and information on what I do.

The topic being Selling Fanart.

People do it all the time, at conventions, online - they draw characters from computer games and shows, often in their own style, and sell them on for money.


Now, my question is, is this practise legal?
In my own set of commission rules, I say that I cannot draw copyrighted characters (though, that should probably be "trademarked characters"), but truth be told I would actually love to sometimes.

Is it a question of legality, or is it one of ethics?
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Advice: Fanart

Nov. 14th, 2011 02:20 pm
[identity profile] purpule.livejournal.com
  • Current Mood: okay
A question/advice query for you all
I'm sure this is an age-old argument, but I'd like to bring it up again because I always appreciate advice and information on what I do.

The topic being Selling Fanart.

People do it all the time, at conventions, online - they draw characters from computer games and shows, often in their own style, and sell them on for money.


Now, my question is, is this practise legal?
In my own set of commission rules, I say that I cannot draw copyrighted characters (though, that should probably be "trademarked characters"), but truth be told I would actually love to sometimes.

Is it a question of legality, or is it one of ethics?
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Advice: Fanart

Nov. 14th, 2011 02:20 pm
[identity profile] purpule.livejournal.com
  • Current Mood: okay
A question/advice query for you all
I'm sure this is an age-old argument, but I'd like to bring it up again because I always appreciate advice and information on what I do.

The topic being Selling Fanart.

People do it all the time, at conventions, online - they draw characters from computer games and shows, often in their own style, and sell them on for money.


Now, my question is, is this practise legal?
In my own set of commission rules, I say that I cannot draw copyrighted characters (though, that should probably be "trademarked characters"), but truth be told I would actually love to sometimes.

Is it a question of legality, or is it one of ethics?
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Advice on body art

Oct. 30th, 2011 03:31 pm
[identity profile] anarchicq.livejournal.com
I'm posting this for a friend who does not have LJ.
Her boyfriend works in a tattoo shop and they recently gain a new piercer. This new piercer is using pictures of her work at her previous place of employment in her portfolio.

The owner of the place she used to work is complaining that he has IP over the photos of piercer's work and is requesting that she not use the pictures. But any artist uses work from previous employment/gigs/magazines they've worked on to get a job right? I don't see how peircing would be any different.

And technically the copyright of the photo would go to whoever snapped the photo but the actual peircing would be the work of the piercer, no?

Any help clearing this up would be great. Thanks.

Edit: corrected my spelling.
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Advice on body art

Oct. 30th, 2011 03:31 pm
[identity profile] anarchicq.livejournal.com
I'm posting this for a friend who does not have LJ.
Her boyfriend works in a tattoo shop and they recently gain a new piercer. This new piercer is using pictures of her work at her previous place of employment in her portfolio.

The owner of the place she used to work is complaining that he has IP over the photos of piercer's work and is requesting that she not use the pictures. But any artist uses work from previous employment/gigs/magazines they've worked on to get a job right? I don't see how peircing would be any different.

And technically the copyright of the photo would go to whoever snapped the photo but the actual peircing would be the work of the piercer, no?

Any help clearing this up would be great. Thanks.

Edit: corrected my spelling.
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Advice on body art

Oct. 30th, 2011 03:31 pm
[identity profile] anarchicq.livejournal.com
I'm posting this for a friend who does not have LJ.
Her boyfriend works in a tattoo shop and they recently gain a new piercer. This new piercer is using pictures of her work at her previous place of employment in her portfolio.

The owner of the place she used to work is complaining that he has IP over the photos of piercer's work and is requesting that she not use the pictures. But any artist uses work from previous employment/gigs/magazines they've worked on to get a job right? I don't see how peircing would be any different.

And technically the copyright of the photo would go to whoever snapped the photo but the actual peircing would be the work of the piercer, no?

Any help clearing this up would be great. Thanks.

Edit: corrected my spelling.
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Advice: Resale Royalties?

Oct. 17th, 2011 11:06 am
[identity profile] toxicfossils.livejournal.com
Hi A_B!

I'm looking for some advice on resale royalties. On Thursday, October 13th, I was contacted by someone through Freelanced.com who was looking for some artwork to be done for their business that is just starting up. They wanted a character designed as well as a logo of said character, so I am in the process of actually finishing up the logo today. I did, however, forget to discuss resale royalties with the client when he originally contacted me. I've never done work like this before (the only thing I've ever done is commissions on FA and DA - never commercial artwork) so I completely forgot about resale royalties and such. The character/logo is going to mainly be used for t-shirts and possibly brochures and flyers, things of that nature. (the business organizes off-road/motocross events)

How would I go about the whole resale royalties thing? Any help or advice at all would be wonderful, as I'm pretty clueless about such things D:

Thank you in advance!

Edit: I have finished the logo itself and I sent him an e-mail asking exactly what he was intending to use the logo on (t-shirts, flyers, etc) and asked for a few examples of said things, hopefully that's a good way to ease into the discussion of resale royalties and such? The client is very easy to work with so far and communication has been good, I'm just hoping he's willing to work with me as far as resale royalty percentages go. He was actually kind of reluctant to pay by the hour because he worried that it would take me something like 20 hours to finish the artwork. So I'm really overall nervous about even diving in to the discussion of royalties and such. =[
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Advice: Resale Royalties?

Oct. 17th, 2011 11:06 am
[identity profile] riskyy.livejournal.com
Hi A_B!

I'm looking for some advice on resale royalties. On Thursday, October 13th, I was contacted by someone through Freelanced.com who was looking for some artwork to be done for their business that is just starting up. They wanted a character designed as well as a logo of said character, so I am in the process of actually finishing up the logo today. I did, however, forget to discuss resale royalties with the client when he originally contacted me. I've never done work like this before (the only thing I've ever done is commissions on FA and DA - never commercial artwork) so I completely forgot about resale royalties and such. The character/logo is going to mainly be used for t-shirts and possibly brochures and flyers, things of that nature. (the business organizes off-road/motocross events)

How would I go about the whole resale royalties thing? Any help or advice at all would be wonderful, as I'm pretty clueless about such things D:

Thank you in advance!

Edit: I have finished the logo itself and I sent him an e-mail asking exactly what he was intending to use the logo on (t-shirts, flyers, etc) and asked for a few examples of said things, hopefully that's a good way to ease into the discussion of resale royalties and such? The client is very easy to work with so far and communication has been good, I'm just hoping he's willing to work with me as far as resale royalty percentages go. He was actually kind of reluctant to pay by the hour because he worried that it would take me something like 20 hours to finish the artwork. So I'm really overall nervous about even diving in to the discussion of royalties and such. =[
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Question About Selling Copyright

Sep. 11th, 2011 06:12 pm
[identity profile] made-of-tin.livejournal.com
  • Current Mood: anxious
I realize this has been asked before, but looking through the copyright tag I can't find an answer for this in particular, so I apologize for the spam but we're freaking out just a little.

So, officially, we are getting our first commission!!

It's sent from the mother of a friend of ours, and she's asking us to design a new logo for a motorcycle club her boyfriend is joining that is 'similar, but more unique' to the current logo. This logo will be the face of the club. It will be on all merchandise they sell, like jackets, shirts, hoodies, etc. The club itself is quite large, with chapters in 41 US states as well as other countries globally.

Specifically, this is what she emailed me:

This is a Motorcycle club that [Boyfriend] is joining. What they're trying to do is get a unique design for t-shirts, hoodies, etc., that they can sell.

So, the design needs to scale large enough to be seen when worn on a t-shirt. It needs to be simple enough to be silk screened onto a T-shirt easily.

We're emailing her back just to clarify if it's for just his chapter or the club as a whole (in the first conversation she had she mentioned the whole club, but we were both pressed for time so she made it short), as well as a quote (which she requested) for the logo and mentioning that the copyright would be additional.

Since it's going to be a black and white image, we were considering at least $100 for the logo itself (although this might go up. The size she says they want is H: 15" x W: 12" and able to silkscreen on t-shirts), but we're stuck on the copyright. If it is was just for her, we would charge less seeing as we've been very good friends with her son since we were all in junior high, but this is possibly for the entire club itself, and we're not sure what to do.

I know a in previous question it was suggested that $300 minimum would be good for the copyright but I'm not sure what to charge for such a large company (can this be considered a company?)

There's also the whole 'similar, but more unique'. We're going to ask if she means they want the same image but stylized (which seems to much like plagiarism for us to accept as it is tbh) or a similar theme but completely new picture.

Any idea what else we should add?


EDIT: After contacting her, it's been clarified that the logo is just for his local chapter, and just a skull. Not anything to do with the logo on the club website (we thought that because she gave the link as an 'example', but it turned out not to be the case).
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Question About Selling Copyright

Sep. 11th, 2011 06:12 pm
[identity profile] made-of-tin.livejournal.com
  • Current Mood: anxious
I realize this has been asked before, but looking through the copyright tag I can't find an answer for this in particular, so I apologize for the spam but we're freaking out just a little.

So, officially, we are getting our first commission!!

It's sent from the mother of a friend of ours, and she's asking us to design a new logo for a motorcycle club her boyfriend is joining that is 'similar, but more unique' to the current logo. This logo will be the face of the club. It will be on all merchandise they sell, like jackets, shirts, hoodies, etc. The club itself is quite large, with chapters in 41 US states as well as other countries globally.

Specifically, this is what she emailed me:

This is a Motorcycle club that [Boyfriend] is joining. What they're trying to do is get a unique design for t-shirts, hoodies, etc., that they can sell.

So, the design needs to scale large enough to be seen when worn on a t-shirt. It needs to be simple enough to be silk screened onto a T-shirt easily.

We're emailing her back just to clarify if it's for just his chapter or the club as a whole (in the first conversation she had she mentioned the whole club, but we were both pressed for time so she made it short), as well as a quote (which she requested) for the logo and mentioning that the copyright would be additional.

Since it's going to be a black and white image, we were considering at least $100 for the logo itself (although this might go up. The size she says they want is H: 15" x W: 12" and able to silkscreen on t-shirts), but we're stuck on the copyright. If it is was just for her, we would charge less seeing as we've been very good friends with her son since we were all in junior high, but this is possibly for the entire club itself, and we're not sure what to do.

I know a in previous question it was suggested that $300 minimum would be good for the copyright but I'm not sure what to charge for such a large company (can this be considered a company?)

There's also the whole 'similar, but more unique'. We're going to ask if she means they want the same image but stylized (which seems to much like plagiarism for us to accept as it is tbh) or a similar theme but completely new picture.

Any idea what else we should add?


EDIT: After contacting her, it's been clarified that the logo is just for his local chapter, and just a skull. Not anything to do with the logo on the club website (we thought that because she gave the link as an 'example', but it turned out not to be the case).
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Question About Selling Copyright

Sep. 11th, 2011 06:12 pm
[identity profile] made-of-tin.livejournal.com
  • Current Mood: anxious
I realize this has been asked before, but looking through the copyright tag I can't find an answer for this in particular, so I apologize for the spam but we're freaking out just a little.

So, officially, we are getting our first commission!!

It's sent from the mother of a friend of ours, and she's asking us to design a new logo for a motorcycle club her boyfriend is joining that is 'similar, but more unique' to the current logo. This logo will be the face of the club. It will be on all merchandise they sell, like jackets, shirts, hoodies, etc. The club itself is quite large, with chapters in 41 US states as well as other countries globally.

Specifically, this is what she emailed me:

This is a Motorcycle club that [Boyfriend] is joining. What they're trying to do is get a unique design for t-shirts, hoodies, etc., that they can sell.

So, the design needs to scale large enough to be seen when worn on a t-shirt. It needs to be simple enough to be silk screened onto a T-shirt easily.

We're emailing her back just to clarify if it's for just his chapter or the club as a whole (in the first conversation she had she mentioned the whole club, but we were both pressed for time so she made it short), as well as a quote (which she requested) for the logo and mentioning that the copyright would be additional.

Since it's going to be a black and white image, we were considering at least $100 for the logo itself (although this might go up. The size she says they want is H: 15" x W: 12" and able to silkscreen on t-shirts), but we're stuck on the copyright. If it is was just for her, we would charge less seeing as we've been very good friends with her son since we were all in junior high, but this is possibly for the entire club itself, and we're not sure what to do.

I know a in previous question it was suggested that $300 minimum would be good for the copyright but I'm not sure what to charge for such a large company (can this be considered a company?)

There's also the whole 'similar, but more unique'. We're going to ask if she means they want the same image but stylized (which seems to much like plagiarism for us to accept as it is tbh) or a similar theme but completely new picture.

Any idea what else we should add?


EDIT: After contacting her, it's been clarified that the logo is just for his local chapter, and just a skull. Not anything to do with the logo on the club website (we thought that because she gave the link as an 'example', but it turned out not to be the case).
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Selling Copyright?

Sep. 4th, 2011 07:58 pm
[identity profile] vibris-sae.livejournal.com
I was recently commissioned to design a logo for a roller derby team. However, I have been asked to sell the copyright. I don't mind doing so, but I am pretty naive about this sort of thing.

The team is pretty amateur, but they plan on merchandising with t-shirts. The commission fee is $100. What should I charge for the rights?

Thanks a_b!
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Selling Copyright?

Sep. 4th, 2011 07:58 pm
[identity profile] vibris-sae.livejournal.com
I was recently commissioned to design a logo for a roller derby team. However, I have been asked to sell the copyright. I don't mind doing so, but I am pretty naive about this sort of thing.

The team is pretty amateur, but they plan on merchandising with t-shirts. The commission fee is $100. What should I charge for the rights?

Thanks a_b!
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Selling Copyright?

Sep. 4th, 2011 07:58 pm
[identity profile] vibris-sae.livejournal.com
I was recently commissioned to design a logo for a roller derby team. However, I have been asked to sell the copyright. I don't mind doing so, but I am pretty naive about this sort of thing.

The team is pretty amateur, but they plan on merchandising with t-shirts. The commission fee is $100. What should I charge for the rights?

Thanks a_b!
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Pattern Commission Advice

Jul. 23rd, 2011 11:22 pm
[identity profile] glacidea.livejournal.com
  • Current Mood: confused
Guttentag, first time poster here. I was asked today for a commission I never have been asked for before. Now I am no stranger to commissioning and have been taking them for a few years now. I've had my fair share of screw-ups and becoming overloaded, making all the usual commissioning mistakes, but I've gotten into a good tempo now. Recently, I've been making and selling patterns, just to try something new. I made a MLP one and a dino and such. I just do it as a side hobby to bring in some extra money every now and then.

I received an email today asking to commission a pattern from me. I had never thought of taking pattern commissions before and so I am baffled as to what to do. I was thinking cost for how many pieces it would be, extra cost if I am unable to sell it normally, there should be something about commercial use, etc etc. I've never done anything like this before, so I would greatly appreciate advice and tips, plus pricing information and such.

I make plush, which is obvious from the above paragraph (examples here: loneplushieinfo.webs.com/ so you can judge based on my skill for like...pricing). My commission prices are usually in the 150 to 300 range and obviously a pattern won't be NEAR that much. So yes, just all advice and everything will be GREATLY appreciated <3
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