Need some light about 'rights'!

[viser1000]

Hi, I’m confused, I see a lot of other artists selling the rights to their art with even higher prices than the art itself… I’m confused… Isn’t it automatic that when someone commissions someone, the comissioned work becomes theirs as the artist was hired or employed to do the art for the client? I want to sell rights too but I’m unsure… Need some light! 😃

[mark74]

viser1000 said: Isn't it automatic that when someone commissions someone, the comissioned work becomes theirs as the artist was hired or employed to do the art for the client?

Absolutely not!! Just an example of how it works in Italy: if you want a photo shoot for your wedding, of course you call a photographer (professional).

You pay the photographer to take pictures and have photo printing (and maybe the images in digital format) and you have the right to use those photos as you please; but the photographer still holds the ownership of the photos (intellectual property) and infact he can show them in front of his shop or take them to a show and you can't deny him this right!

The only way to avoid this is to agree in advance (in writing) so that the photographer gives you the originals of the pictures (film and/or digital copies) and undertakes not to take any copies.

 

So, intellectual property does not migrate from seller to buyer if they don't agree before about this!!

[dtongsports]

Don’t mind the negative feedback from other posters, it’s what they do. You can add on extras for rights for anything from voiceovers to paintings. It’s up to you. I have seen that it deters sales to charge customers additionally when they come to Fiverr for value, but you set your precedence. Stick to it, don’t jump back and forth. Either you do or you don’t. You may sell more without charging more and tell the customers in the delivery that they have all rights, will get you nonstop positive feedback to help with potential buyers.

DTong

[viser1000]

vedmak said: It takes written contract to transfer ownership, which makes Fiverr ToS invalid.

-Oh so this is what everyone else is selling...

 

vedmak said: So if buyer really wants full rights, they should purchase signed contract.

 

Or they take their chances with extended use rights.

- seems you could make a fortune selling these contracts in one series of drawings alone...

mark74 said: The only way to avoid this is to agree in advance (in writing) so that the photographer gives you the originals of the pictures (film and/or digital copies) and undertakes not to take any copies.

- this works well with actual prints, but in digital works, if the client has the idea and the artist only renders it, would that make it the artist's intellectual property when he only drew the client's original idea?

 

*Has any of you experienced selling rights in Fiverr? I've worked with a number of companies before but we always had an arrangement that the resulting material will be their properties and i will only recieve payment for my professional services and not anything after that. In Fiverr, I sometimes encounter clients who tell me that all the rights to the graphic I have to draw will be theirs and I normally don't have anything against it as I don't have any use for it anyway. Well, aside from buffing my portfolio. But realizing that people actually pay for acquiring these rights, just seems like a good idea to make some more money...

 

edit: on second thought, all these thoughts go against my idea of enjoying fiverr gigs and staying relaxed... I guess I'll just forget about it and just draw for the fun of it^^ Thanks for the information though!

 

[werdsmith]

Reply to @vedmak: Actually, Canada has another legal caveat, it’s automatically a work for hire even without the TOS. As for the TOS holding up, I just found this and hadn’t thought of that. I go the extra mile, inform the person of the TOS, and get a signed document anyway, as well as paying them a minimum of $20(lawyer’s advised minimum, heresay though).

Though, are you factoring in the e-sign act? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Signatures_in_Global_and_National_Commerce_Act

Also, would you have to verify your identity if you’re providing the material via the website. As you’re agreeing to the contract and submitting the work via the same medium, two claims can be made. One: that it wasn’t you, in which case it’s someone elses work so you have no copyright claim. Or, two, that it was you, in which case you both provided the work and agreed to the copyright claim.

Also, ‘Work for hire’ is pretty much standard on freelancer sites. I just saw a case where an entire company was banned from another site over ‘work for hire’, permanently. I wonder if that affects it, being ‘typical in the industry’ but I’m Not A Lawyer. (Need to ask one about this)



When I use the term ‘work for hire’, I go the extra mile and explain exactly what it means. That said, I don’t rely on the TOS personally, I get it in writing. One time I had someone from Canada sign over the rights in addition to the TOS. ‘TRIPLE-INSURED’. I paid $20, for 4 images. I could have gotten similar (though crammed on one page) from an american comic author (though, maybe not from a pro).

And I don’t do work for hires to restrict their rights, I do it to guarantee mine.



@viser1000 - seems you could make a fortune selling these contracts in one series of drawings alone…

Eh heh heh… except that I can get a stock photo from… well… similar really. (depending where and what.) It only works if the competition is more expensive. And it’s a very close race. Even at a $5 gig extra… I might just go for a professional comic artist for $20 a page (admittedly, not marvel, but still amazingly good, you would be surprised).



Everyone always goes ‘how much can I get’ or ‘how much is it worth’. The answer: The same price I can get it from the other guy from… or less… take your pick. Even with creativity, it’s so easy to forget it’s still a competition. There are billions of people in the world, hundreds of millions in the U.S., and entire industries bent around selling the photos of a few select artists of which you are not, and compeeting with rock bottom prices against anyone who dares oppose them. (But selling images in the bulk helps pad their bottom line).



Also, if the description from which you created X (or the design document) was copyrighted, the resulting work you created is a derivative work, and thus copyrighted as well.



So… it’s not always so clear.