I have been asked to create some hand painted illustrations for a book. The client has asked if my quoted price includes the original artworks (which are on paper). I was thinking I would just be sending him the scanned files but keeping the drawings myself. Is it normal to give the actual artworks? I normally do fine art so I’m not sure what the done thing is. Would love some advice, thank you.
Does the client keep original ink illustrations?
- Thread starter Imodt
- Start date
I'm assuming the client knows you work on paper rather than digitally but in both cases who keeps the original work is entirely down to the contract.
Pricing can obviously reflect the transfer of ownership of the original files rather than just supplying finished work in say pdf format.
The other ways of looking at it are technically you're working 'to contract' so you wouldn't be able to reuse the artwork anywhere else so it's not going to be useful to anyone except your client and for your own personal reference/collection (which a scan would arguably work just as well). In essence the original work doesn't have any 'value' outside of personal sentiment and the client job so it's basically down to your choice.
Pricing can obviously reflect the transfer of ownership of the original files rather than just supplying finished work in say pdf format.
The other ways of looking at it are technically you're working 'to contract' so you wouldn't be able to reuse the artwork anywhere else so it's not going to be useful to anyone except your client and for your own personal reference/collection (which a scan would arguably work just as well). In essence the original work doesn't have any 'value' outside of personal sentiment and the client job so it's basically down to your choice.
sprout
Active Member
Unless a contract states otherwise, the default position, in law, is that the copyright always remains with the creator of the artistic work, so physical art should come back to the originator really. So beyond that, it depends what your agreement was.
As Levi says, if they commissioned the work for a specific purpose, then even without a contract and with copyright retained by you, ethically it would be wrong for you to reuse them for anything else – with the exception of the copyright fair use clause that allows for such uses as being shown in a portfolio, or as an exemplar in an academic work.
You can, obviously, write a contract that hands over the physical artwork and/or the copyright – with the requisite remuneration.
Whenever illustrators send me original art, once I have had it scanned, it goes back to them as a matter of course, unless they don’t want it back or I have asked nicely. Once I commissioned a well-known illustrator to do a book on cycling for me. I did the original sketches to show him what I needed. I loved the end result so much, that I asked if I could buy it off him just to hang on my wall. In the end, he let me keep it, as I think he felt the fee was enough to warrant it, but it has to be that way. It is his by default.
As Levi says, if they commissioned the work for a specific purpose, then even without a contract and with copyright retained by you, ethically it would be wrong for you to reuse them for anything else – with the exception of the copyright fair use clause that allows for such uses as being shown in a portfolio, or as an exemplar in an academic work.
You can, obviously, write a contract that hands over the physical artwork and/or the copyright – with the requisite remuneration.
Whenever illustrators send me original art, once I have had it scanned, it goes back to them as a matter of course, unless they don’t want it back or I have asked nicely. Once I commissioned a well-known illustrator to do a book on cycling for me. I did the original sketches to show him what I needed. I loved the end result so much, that I asked if I could buy it off him just to hang on my wall. In the end, he let me keep it, as I think he felt the fee was enough to warrant it, but it has to be that way. It is his by default.
Wardy
Well-Known Member
As above, really. Short answer is no, they don't keep the originals because they never had them in the first place.
It really depends on what they intend to do with them apart from use them in the book, and what you intend to do with them afterwards. If you've not signed over full rights and/or copyright,
then you should certainly charge them an extra fee for usage rights etc. Likewise, if you intend to use or sell them elsewhere too, they need to know this. In future, sort the contract and price beforehand.
There's nothing wrong in saying to them, sorry, but I'm new to this, this is what I should have quoted, etc.
It really depends on what they intend to do with them apart from use them in the book, and what you intend to do with them afterwards. If you've not signed over full rights and/or copyright,
then you should certainly charge them an extra fee for usage rights etc. Likewise, if you intend to use or sell them elsewhere too, they need to know this. In future, sort the contract and price beforehand.
There's nothing wrong in saying to them, sorry, but I'm new to this, this is what I should have quoted, etc.