Art marketing tip : Licensing dos and don’ts
Here are some licensing guidelines that will save you some heartaches
Make sure your license includes these at minimum:
- The name of the specific works of art you’re licensing
- What specific types of products the art will be reproduced on
- The producer’s or publishers written agreement to put your copyright notice on every product sold and every advertisement or brochure for any such product which bears your art
- The countries in which the products will be sold
- A period of time (six months or a year) during which time the company has to bring to market (produce and sell) products with your art, or else give up the rights to use your art;
- A termination date for the agreement, generally two or three years after signing
- An indemnification clause which says that the company will protect you from any Lawsuits that might arise from any of their business activities which in any way relate to products carrying your art (so that you are protected if, say, a child swallows a product with your art on it and the parents sue)
- A statement saying you can cancel the agreement if they don’t abide by its terms or if they go bankrupt.
- A specific statement of any non-refundable advance payment to be made to you against future royalties, the specific royal percentage to be paid to you on a quarterly basis, and the requirement that each royalty check be accompanied by clear statement of how they came up with the royalty amount;
Never allow them to-
- Gain the copyright for any of your pieces of art
- Gain full and complete reproduction rights to any of your art
- Gain the right to sublicense your art to other companies without you having to approve and sign each specific sublicensing agreement
- Gain ownership of your original works of art as part of the licensing agreement
REF: Porterfields Art Licensing
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