Illustrators are strongly advised not to sign the copyright on their work as it is not in their best interest. Indeed, he renounces any control over where and how their illustration work can be used, changes can be made without their consent, and that they cancel any right to reproduce the work, for example in a portfolio. If you allow a client to use your work, you are not selling the work. You sell permission to use the work in a way that you approve for a period of time. A license agreement should be present in your art-related livelihood, as it is an essential part of growing your business. While it may seem like causing extra work and effort, an artist license agreement will save you money and time in the end. **EDIT DECEMBER 2019** The AOI has just released a FREE GLOBAL RESOURCE – a simple, downloadable PDF guide for license artwork – DOWNLOAD IT HERE However, if an illustration was originally licensed for use on a business card, but once it was ready, you liked it so much that it was deployed to a range of products for sale, there would rightly be a problem! The best approach is to be with Illustrator in advance, check what was included in the original license, and if it`s not included, discuss it with it before proceeding and use it elsewhere. This approach to pricing is widely used in the illustration industry and is actively promoted by the Association of Illustrators (AOI) – a recognized professional association for illustrations. I have been a member of the AOI for several years and I regularly advise them on the realization of quotes for new projects to ensure that my fees are in line with the current level of the industry for certain commissions and similar profiled clients.
In addition to supporting illustrators and ensuring that illustration is a thriving and sustainable industry, the AOI offers some resources that you might find useful as a potential curator/client – for example, this hiring guide to many agreements will require a license term of 12 to 24 months with the option to renew. Licensors are “we” – the creators of creative images, the owners of intellectual property (IP), our licensed images. Our work is our intellectual property, and we are the only ones who have the right to grant the use of our images on the products. We may have signed a contract with a licensing agent or agent to act on our behalf and they can negotiate contracts for us, but we always have the final say when accepting the final contract. When agreeing on a license agreement, it is important to consider all of the following: Show the licensee that you understand your work on itsz licensees in order to see your work on their product, you must first be able to imagine your work on each product and see the possibility and potential of building a licensing program. 1) The type of products sold determines the industry standard percentage for this product line. The art license is usually a license range of 3 to 10%. Brand and character licenses can go up to 15%. (Understand, for example, that my illustrations usually take at least 30 hours, so if I were to use an hourly rate, my fees would be astronomical. For someone who, for example, makes minimalist line illustrations and has spent his life perfecting this style, should he be punished by using an hourly rate as a basic fee? Not under my supervision) Once I`ve submitted an offer on a potential project and the fee has been agreed, I always send the client a document to accept the commission before I start working on an illustration – this is basically the illustration license.
Most professional illustrators deliver a similar document. How the illustration fee is shown depends on the usage – how and where the illustration is used, as well as the scale/profile of the client. This is very different from many other industries where there may be standard costs/rates, and therefore can sometimes seem complicated and confusing. The points outlined below follow a series of conversations I`ve had recently with clients and potential clients, highlighting the fact that for them, the way illustration is licensed can be difficult to understand and sometimes a barrier to working with an illustrator who praises it this way. Ideal for limited editions / special editions. Because if it`s a holiday in 2022, the licensee probably won`t have to use the work after the holiday season ends. This term makes it possible to produce, print, sell and ensure that there are no competing products with the same design on the market during the term of the license. The license, sometimes referred to as use or rights, is an agreement between Illustrator (licensor) and its customer (licensee).
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