I realize I MAY have posted to a group that this does not apply to, if
so please let me know...

For years I have been drawing and illistrating. Nothing proffesional,
just cartoons of characters I create. Recently I began putting them on
tee shirts and cards via www.zazzle.com.

Of course, everyone I know personally thought there were outstanding
and pushed me to try and make a career of this. So I grabbed a copy of
the 2006 artists and graphic designers market book and made postcards
of 4 of my best works... primarily greeting card material. I sent post
cards out to maybe 20 greeting card companies.

I got one reject card (which I was actually excited about, really not
caring whether I am successful or not) but then last week, someone
emailed me... here is how the email was worded:

"Your promotional cards were handed to us from Gallant Greetings (A
company I had sent work to) this week.
We are an agency which has partnered with them to search out talent to
work on greeting cards.
We work with non licensed artists who work to size on the artwork.
Is this something that you might be interested in? If so, I will send
you a contract to look over"

I replied, saying that I would be interested perhaps and they sent me
an artists contract. Looking over the contract I saw this:

"Oak Brook Design Group, 1028 Oakwood Drive, Westmont, IL 60559 (OBDG)
does hereby agree to purchase and Artist agrees to sell and assign to
OBDG, its legal representatives and assigns, all of his/her right,
title and interest in and to the Artwork..."

So does this mean they want my art and want ALL the rights to it?
meaning I cna never reproduce it ever if they buy it? Wouldnt an
agreement like this mean they would have to pay me a great deal for my
work? I really love my work and dont know if I like the idea of someone
owning it forever, other than me.

Hi Jazz.

First of all, this group is called "graphics.illustrator" so I
understand why you post your question here. I never saw a Charter for
this group so maybe it was even intended for people like you.
Anyway it has become a group for Adobe Illustrator users. But since many
of them are Graphic Artists and such, with the same problems, I do not
think your question is misplaced here.

I am not a lawyer. And (Intellectual) Ownership/Copyrights is a
difficult area I understand. Plus the fact that I am Dutch........I
would not know how things are organized in my own country let alone in
America. Although I lived in the US for a few years. I do think it will
be about the same, but the exact ins and outs I am not familiar with,
hopefully others can shed their light, because it is interesting.

Having said that, here are my two cents.

1. The company was asking for "non licensed" artists. Maybe that should
ring a bell?

2. I believe that the artist, in this case you, should always make sure
to stay the owner of his/hers product. I think you should never agree
with terms like this, unless of course the offer is irrestible...
Except for emotional arguments (its YOUR piece, how could you just
"give" that away) I believe there are very practical reasons.

Take graphic design. Someone creates a nice logo for a small company for
300 dollars. After two years this small company has grown to a
multinational Fortune 500 company with billions of revenues. Using that
same logo world wide. I would be having nightmares on top of the concern
of how to buy my bread and butter

Look at Stock Photography. You pay for every instant the pic is used,
and even depending on what use, volume, which page, what size......so
someone is (or many people are) getting money for years because the
picture he/she made is used everytime again.

In this case I would want to know exactly what the use of your
illustrations is going to be and ask to pay for a nice price tag.

steg



Jazz wrote:

On 9/3/06 5:03 PM, in article
1157317419.165877.293700@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups. com, "Jazz"
<jbraly@gmail.com> wrote:

To obtain all rights to an original cartoon image of yours, they have to pay
your price. Buying all rights to any cartoon of yours should cost the buyer
an arm and a leg. We're talking thou$ands. You are giving up all claim to be
the artist and owner of the work. If you feel that your cartoons are like
your children and you'd be surrendering part of your soul to sell them,
don't do it.

I purposely set my copyright fees high enough that very few people are
willing to pay it. If I feel that too many people are interested in paying
that price, it's too low and I raise it.

Consider that they can do anything that they wish with a cartoon once they
own all rights and you will not receive a dime even if the image becomes the
next Snoopy or Barney. A better alternative if at all possible, would be to
license the image to the company and collect licensing fees. Licensing has
it's own potholes to watch for, so you may want to check out the company and
try to contact any artists they have (or had) licensing deals with to see if
they are actually getting (or got) paid.
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino

Cartoons with a Touch of Magic�
http://www.wizardofdraws.com

More Cartoons with a Touch of Magic�
http://www.cartoonclipart.com

In article <1157317419.165877.293700@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups. com>,
"Jazz" <jbraly@gmail.com> wrote:



It sounds like they want to buy full rights outright or handle it on the
SOP "Work for Hire" set-up.

Work for hir means, essentially, you'd be a outside contractor, with all
rights to work done for them being theirs. It's about the same thing as
if you were an employee, though it requires a written agreement to be
binding for non-employees.

In either case, it normally means giving all rights to them and
transferring full ownership of the work. There usually is a little bit
of wiggle room- using the image as part of your portfolio, e.g.- but
that has to be spelled out beforehand.

Read the contract very, very carefully and ask for explanations and
about amendment(s) if parts aren't suitable for you. Beware of gotchas,
unless you want to give them eternal rights to all your work of their
choosing. It can be scary sounding, but most of the time clients use
standard contracts.

If it turns out to be full rights being bought, figure prices
accordingly.


-Doug

Doug Winger wrote:

Exactly. This is a word for word, Work for Hire contract (anybody who's
done work in the comic industry will know it very well). The thing is,
you'd have to find out if they're talking about buying the rights to
*future* works, or your current stuff. If it's future works, then
basically, don't use your own characters! Create characters just for
them to use, and do so with the knowledge that you're creating these
characters for them, so you don't get so "attached". The truth is,
they're not going to pay you a ton of money for it. Work for Hire is
usually standard rate/fee (that they negotiate with you), for any work
you do *for them*.

Now, if they want to purchase the rights to your *existing* artwork,
then you should get a seperate contract, and set an exorbitant price
(well, one you feel would justify parting from said creation). However,
the fact that they sent you contract immediately rings a bell. Generally
you would negotiate such minute with them before hand. Find out what
their work for hire rate is, and in fact, confirm that this is indeed a
work for hire situation. Make sure they're not trying to slyly get you
to "sell your soul" (ie trying to buy existing artwork from you for next
to nothing). And negotiate EVERYTHING, and keep notes of all of it,
before you even pick up a pen to sign that contract.

And remember: although most of us truthfully admit we are not lawyers,
even if someone online says they ARE a lawyer, you still have no access
to their credentials. Meaning, always check it out with a real, in
person, lawyer! Many of them offer free/cheap initial consultations.

In article <1157317419.165877.293700@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups. com>,
Jazz <jbraly@gmail.com> wrote:


Googling that name gets you to the "Wage & Hour Litigation Resource
Center" at
https://mymba.mbaa.org/wage_hour/WHRegister.aspx

Unfortunately, you have to be a Mortgage Bankers Association member to
enter. It's not clear if they're litigating or being litigated against.


I'd ask how they plan to use your characters and for some examples of
other cartoons they've used. You could also ask for a few names of
other artists under contract. Their reluctance to do so would be a red
flag.

Tom Nelson
Tom Nelson Photography