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SHARING COMMISSIONED RESOURCES
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Cap_H
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CloseI wonder, my beautiful creative friends, how does intellectual property work with commissions. When I want to release commissions for free as the one, who purchased work of the artist, do I need them to agree? Can cost of such commissions differ?
This is something I wonder about as I want to release all of my future projects under creative commons. I know that every individual art person should have their individual way to approach and that not talking about such intension beforehand is rude. I'd like to hear your personal opinion. How important is ownership of your art for you? Would you even consider such an arrangement?
This is something I wonder about as I want to release all of my future projects under creative commons. I know that every individual art person should have their individual way to approach and that not talking about such intension beforehand is rude. I'd like to hear your personal opinion. How important is ownership of your art for you? Would you even consider such an arrangement?
AubreyTheBard
1801
On a legal level, that sounds like something that could get very complicated, and I'm by no means an expert on what the actual law currently says, especially across countries. My basic preference would be that it should be as uncomplicated as feasible, which would mean the person who purchased the artwork would have full rights to do whatever they wished with it, unless specifically contracted otherwise.
On an ethical level, I think people should be free to negotiate whatever deal makes sense to them and do their best to respect the understanding. The default position should again be that the person paying for the artwork has full rights over it.
On an ethical level, I think people should be free to negotiate whatever deal makes sense to them and do their best to respect the understanding. The default position should again be that the person paying for the artwork has full rights over it.
Arcmagik
1407
This is what I like about Jason that does Time Fantasy. Upfront he will give you exclusive rates or give you a discount if you let him release to Patreon. Slightly different then what you are talking about as the artist is the one releasing the work in this case but it is a discussion upfront when you make a commission request. I almost exclusively let him release for the commissions that I requested for Legion Saga. I think the only one that I kept exclusive was the World Durane Sprite because aside from the base for the world sprites it was the only one of it's kind so I didn't want to see a bunch of Brian's (Duranes/Ridmans) running around as the main character before LSDX could get finished.
I think it is definitely a conversation that you must have with the artist upfront. I shared some resources that I had made for TF with NeoSoulGamer as he gave me permission to use the main character from Asylum as a cameo/extra non-essential recruit as a promotional peice plus he has been very helpful with sharing tips and techniques for manipulating MV and TF however I made the artists aware upfront that I was going to be doing this and they agreed to it.
TL:DR - Make it a discussion with the artist before finalizing the commission agreement.
I think it is definitely a conversation that you must have with the artist upfront. I shared some resources that I had made for TF with NeoSoulGamer as he gave me permission to use the main character from Asylum as a cameo/extra non-essential recruit as a promotional peice plus he has been very helpful with sharing tips and techniques for manipulating MV and TF however I made the artists aware upfront that I was going to be doing this and they agreed to it.
TL:DR - Make it a discussion with the artist before finalizing the commission agreement.
Yeah, as long as you make an agreement with the artist upfront, it should be fine. Just make it clear when commissioning them that you want these assets to be creative commons and available to anyone to use.
This could indeed affect price, but as Arc mentioned, not always for the worse, depending on how they view things. If they value creating resources for anyone to use, they might even lower their prices, tho they are under no obligation to do so.
I could also see it going the other way with some artists who might charge more, but this is probably less likely, maybe? I dunno though, anyone savvy enough who has a patreon would probably be thrilled to have more stuff to share with their patrons XD But yeah it's up to the individual artist, of course.
This could indeed affect price, but as Arc mentioned, not always for the worse, depending on how they view things. If they value creating resources for anyone to use, they might even lower their prices, tho they are under no obligation to do so.
I could also see it going the other way with some artists who might charge more, but this is probably less likely, maybe? I dunno though, anyone savvy enough who has a patreon would probably be thrilled to have more stuff to share with their patrons XD But yeah it's up to the individual artist, of course.
Okay, on the subject...
what if you commissioned work from an artist, got part of the work delivered, and then they completely ghosted you?
The total work they delivered was incomplete, so you can't use it in the project you commissioned him for, so you had to go another direction. But now you have a selection of works that are sitting unused, that you paid for - and that's a shame. Keeping in mind you have had zero success in contacting them for over a year... is it okay to share them for other's use then?
what if you commissioned work from an artist, got part of the work delivered, and then they completely ghosted you?
The total work they delivered was incomplete, so you can't use it in the project you commissioned him for, so you had to go another direction. But now you have a selection of works that are sitting unused, that you paid for - and that's a shame. Keeping in mind you have had zero success in contacting them for over a year... is it okay to share them for other's use then?
I think you'd be allowed to use them for a game of your own making but would have to seek their permission from releasing for others' usage.
It's a weird grey line since one the one hand, you paid to have these resources created and to claim a part of the ownership of them, however they still own overall ownership since they're in their style and made by their hand.
It's a bit like photos - sure they might be of you and your family, but the photographer still owns some claim on them.
Usually you'd work that kind of detail out before or during their creation.
In your case, kentona, I'd see if I could contact them to let them know that you intend to do such a thing and make a note where-ever you post them that the usage of them comes with a risk of the artist later retracting permission.
This way
- you've done diligence in trying to get permission
- given them the option of later saying "no, I don't want them released"
- let people who might use them know that there's a chance they will be revoked
On top of that, I'd probably also say free use only, not for commercial use, because that could royally fuck someone's day up if the artist goes "um, no" and persues some kind of legal argument against the users.
Though, to be honest, I'd just use them in a small game at some point instead, maybe.
It's a weird grey line since one the one hand, you paid to have these resources created and to claim a part of the ownership of them, however they still own overall ownership since they're in their style and made by their hand.
It's a bit like photos - sure they might be of you and your family, but the photographer still owns some claim on them.
Usually you'd work that kind of detail out before or during their creation.
In your case, kentona, I'd see if I could contact them to let them know that you intend to do such a thing and make a note where-ever you post them that the usage of them comes with a risk of the artist later retracting permission.
This way
- you've done diligence in trying to get permission
- given them the option of later saying "no, I don't want them released"
- let people who might use them know that there's a chance they will be revoked
On top of that, I'd probably also say free use only, not for commercial use, because that could royally fuck someone's day up if the artist goes "um, no" and persues some kind of legal argument against the users.
Though, to be honest, I'd just use them in a small game at some point instead, maybe.
When I hire an artist from Deviant Art for commissions I always have to be clear that I'm going to use the art for a commercial visual novel, as some artists just do fan art, or stuff like that. The commercial thing needs to be very clear.
Think of the art you buy as a license. You bought a license to use the art. Other people don't have that license. So, you could probably distribute the art, but the people who you distributed it to wouldn't have the same license to use it as you would because the artists never gave it to them. At the very least, they wouldn't be able to make a commercial game with it, unless the artist gave you permission to sub-license. (I'm no legal expert here, but this is my take on it.)
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