Contract question
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I have a question (maybe more forthcoming) about illustration contracts. I've been asked to look over a proposed one for potential work I will be doing and they want the full rights to my illustrations. I don't have an agent, and so far no lawyer (though my mother in law was a lawyer secretary for several years and understands the lingo). How do I go about this? I am not sure I want to sign away full rights. Or should I?
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@Heather-Foxwood Are they willing to pay the huge sum that is full rights? Most likely not. They perhaps assuming there will be more licensing opportunities down the line (tv shows, merch, etc.), or may not realize that most projects don't require a full sign away. Or is this work for hire?
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@lpetiti I would say it's work for hire... A local zoo wants me to illustrate a book. I'm not sure how to handle this liscensing... They own the animals and so the characters are theirs.. but the art is mine and I'm not sure... how to negotiate things. They want art to be used for whatever.. I think that's typical, no? But I definitely would like to be able to sell my own originals if it came to that. Entirely new territory to me. By the way, love your signature quote!
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@Heather-Foxwood They do own them and are caretakers of them but a tiger is a tiger in a book is it not? Unless you're specifically naming them or the book is about that specific zoo. Even then I say it's a shaky argument at best.
I think you need to tell them what you just told me, that you would like to sell your own artwork. The contracts I use say that I can use the illustrations outside of the context of the book I'm working on. So I could theoretically sell prints, just not with the copy of the text or in the context of the books. Continue to have conversations with the zoo and ask them what specifically they need this stuff for. A zoo is most likely non-profit (at least I hope it is) so they are probably worried about budget and costs, but at the same time if they are that worried then perhaps they can't afford an illustrator at this time. You're quite right, it's your art.
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@lpetiti Super helpful thank you! Yes it's about specific ones and they made national news so it probably isn't quite as shaky. BUT if you still have that clause that you can do as you wish and since I'm not thinking they will have a fortune... maybe it can be doable then. If so, having the rights works in my favor too--especially if I can sell prints.
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@Heather-Foxwood It sounds like complicated one for my experience. But I assume that they would like to use the art for promotion materials, merch and so on in the future without paying you a procentage. Probably you may ask them to find a solution so both sides to be satisfied. If you don't care about these profits, maybe they should be specified and mentioned in the contract and give the rights to use them and also mention that you will still having the rights to use the art but with no comersial purpose/ financial profit. I know is the same like giving the rights, but ot will feel better and will secure you if in the future they want to use them for something not included in the contract. ( like a movie or something). These are just thoughts, I am not a specialist.
And good luck!
