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Terms Of Service [pending review]
5 years ago
Alright, so since I‘m going to be opening for commissions again, I suppose I had better be putting down a few rules as to how we’re going to be interacting with each other as artist and commissioner. Now, I realize this is going to be really boring and dry, but I’m going to try and word it as simply as possible to avoid any legalese induced hemorrhages. For those who are impatient, there’s a tl;dr-version at the bottom.
iPoke’s TOS or “how to get me to draw for you”
1. Provided Service
When commissioning me you are paying for my service as an artist, to create a piece of art (product) along specifications we will define (in written format) beforehand. Once we have agreed on a basic framework and price for what it is you want me to draw, I will begin working on the product.
Depending on the level of commission, I will send you updates upon completion of a stage of the product (sketch => lines => flats => ~). These updates will not be full-scale, but will provide you with enough visible detail to ascertain whether the desired progress has been made.
Alternatively I also provide live streaming options via picarto for immediate input while I work. Depending on the degree of detail, this option may need time allotted specifically for it in both our schedules – plan accordingly.
If you want to have your image completed towards a deadline, this will have to be agreed upon before any work is done on my part. If you fail to do this, I reserve the right to cancel the commission, or adjust the price to compensate for any conflicts that may arise from this.
When the last line is drawn, we arrive at …
2. Payment
Payment is only admissible upon completion. I realize this is unusual, but it’s what I’ve done up to now and so far I’ve made good experiences with my customers.
Once I deem the product complete, I will provide you with a final preview for approval. Once you’ve approved this final preview I will send you an invoice, either by paypal for direct transfer, or email for a bank transfer. Either way, once the payment clears, I will send you the full scale version of your commission, as well as potential downscaled versions (for upload purposes and such) – remember that banks, especially international transfers, take a lot longer – again, plan accordingly.
Should you find some minor details out of place or fixes you want me to make at this stage …
3. Revisions and Refunds
I will generally accommodate those free of charge. However, I ask you to use common sense. Down-tuning the glint on a surface, adding a tuft of fur here or there, or nudging a single finger a millimeter to the side is not that much of a hassle. Artwork revisions such as changing your assault rifle into a shotgun, or repositioning portions of a character is going to cost you extra though.
I consider it a personal matter of pride to provide my customers with the best possible product and I will go to some lengths to accommodate your wishes. In the unlikely event that we arrive at a finished product and you find something that is entirely out of place (due to false interpretation or oversight on my part) and we, for some reason, cannot reach an agreement on how to proceed on fixing it, we can discuss (partial) refunds.
Full refunds are out of the question, as my workflow provides you with ample opportunity to provide input on the product as I’m creating it for you, so there’s no reasonable chance that the entire body of work I submit is somehow compromised after the fact.
However, should you at any point during the creation process feel we’re not going in the right direction, or something else happens to make you want me to stop, there’s always the option of …
4. Cancellation
Shit happens. Either you can no longer afford the full price we agreed upon due to unforeseen circumstances, you’re dissatisfied with the progress of the commission, we reach an impasse, … ~whatever. There’s a hundred reasons why a commission should not go forward at a given time. If that is the case, let me know as soon as you possibly can.
If a commission is cancelled mid-progress, you will only have to pay for the last completed stage of the product. However, again, please use common sense. If I’m five lines away from finishing a high end piece I’ve been working on for you since the start of the month, with consistent progress, revisions and general good mood, and you cancel on me, I will expect you to pay me for the additional work already provided (this will be a partial of the full price determined by me). As with completed products, you will receive the full resolution of my work, once the payment clears.
Once I’ve sent you the finished product, and we’ve ironed out any potential creases, you’re going to want to start showing it around, which brings us to ...
5. Copyright and Distribution
Unfortunately there is no such thing as international copyright law, however there are similarities in almost all jurisdictions. The two which are relevant in this case are those of Austria, as that is where I live and produce my art, and the US, as that is where the majority of this art will be hosted upon completion. In both jurisdictions "The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work.", which means I as the artist retain any and all rights to the work I produce. Unless I specifically grant the patron the right to the work in tangible format, the rights to distribute the work, for profit or otherwise, are continued to be held by me, from moment of creation. The privilege to host or distribute my work online is not the same thing as giving them copyright of the work. Permission to distribute is granted traditionally to the patron unless otherwise stated in commission discussion before payment (this covers things like private commissions that either you or I do not wish to become public, for whatever reason). I retain the right to include your commission in sold works of my own such as prints, digitally distributed or printed portfolios, patreon or other similar services, etc. So in simple terms:
You May:
-Upload it on your own free-to-access accounts.
-Use it as an icon/profile image on your accounts.
-Print it for yourself as a badge/etc.
-Colour or ink it, or get another artist to colour or ink it, if you bought a non ink/colour piece.
You May Not:
-Use it to generate revenue for anyone, even me, without my permission.
-Put it into SL image packs, paysite galleries, or paid-type image dumps.
-Heavily edit or rework the image.
Speaking of things you may or may not …
6. Commission Subjects
There are things even a furry artist wont do. I realize I probably have a far lower tolerance threshold than many other an artist, but even so, there are things I either don’t want to draw, am uncomfortable with, or are not permissible by some other function of the universe (for instance FA upload policy :b ). Here’s a list of things I just straight up wont draw. Don’t bother asking, because it’s not going to happen, no matter how much money you wiggle in my face.
Anything including body waste, cub, pregnancy*, gore*, inflation, un/birthing, rape, torture*, feeding, snuff, fisting, hyper, transformation, herms, crossdressing, cuntboys, dickgirls
* sexual/fetish context
Aside from these hard no topics, there’s a couple’ things I’m somewhat on the fence about, or am more tending towards declining.
- The first of these is copyrighted characters or characters you don’t directly own. I would think I don’t need to explain this one, but just for clarity’s sake; if it’s a fandom character, ask the owner. It’s not that hard to do and sometimes people just don’t want their characters drawn by others and I respect that. I will be counter-checking you having asked and I will wait for confirmation, so don’t bother trying to sneak this by me.
Characters of popular franchises I will decide on on a case-by-case basis, simply because I don’t want to do the n-th rendition of Krystal fucking X character – seriously, the hot dog’s not even traveling down a hallway anymore at this point, more like ICBM launch tube
- The second, which is perhaps more surprising and controversial, is homo-erotica. Now, before you get all up in arms: I have no problem drawing two people, deeply in love, enjoying each other, and I don’t care which bits they have for doing so either, but if you’ve watched me for a while, you will have noticed a distinct absence of this in my gallery. The explanation is fairly simple – I am not passionate about the subject.
I’m not saying I wont draw homo-erotica at all. I’ve done it before after all. If you have a deep emotional connection to an idea involving your and your mate’s character and you desperately want me specifically to draw this for you, I will be happy to. I just don’t want to do another one to “add to the pile”, if that makes sense.
In before “Yea! Duh ghays R takin’ ovah!” and “wowyouhatehomostoohuh?” -No, fuck you! Get out and burn yourself you utter trash! I just don’t want to drag myself through an artistic process I have no passion for, when there’s people out there better suited for the job.
I reserve the right to refuse any proposition for no reason whatsoever, but any other topic I will be happy to discuss with you in person, once contact has been established. Which brings me around to …
7. How to apply for a slot
I will open for a set amount of slots at the beginning of a month. Once I post the announcement that I’m open (will be an FA submission), you can send me a note here on FA. Please write this note in the following format:
Subject: commission request dd.mm.yyyy – Type X (the date should be the date of the announcement)
paypal address:
number of characters:
references:
description:
Short summary of what it is you’d want to have happen in the image.
You don’t need to make it an essay, but a little more than “cat in a box” would be nice to have something to go on.
-
Anything else you can think of wanting to include; personal notes, details, etc. *entirely optional
I will hold onto the info, and sort through the notes I get, but it's not a waiting list or guarantee. Since the in-box is likely going to be rather full, I can’t promise to reply to every last one of them, although I do try – I will definitely reply to the ones I’m taking on, as well as the ones I’m declining for whatever reason.
I will be displaying a(n anonymous) public list of slot openings for a given month and crossing people off the list upon completion, however I will not be posting another announcement for openings until the next month.
If you see a slot in this list as open, you can submit a commission request as per the format above. If you didn’t hear back from me after the opening announcement and the slots were already filled before, this is an opportunity to perhaps get your idea in this month after all. <<< failed to function
tl;dr-version
1. What do you do?
You hire me to draw something for you.
You get updates along every stage of the commission.
You want to get it done by a specific time? Tell me!
2. What about payment?
You pay me after I’m done.
You get a preview image when I’m done. After you pay, you get the big, pretty version :3
You can tell me to fix minor details within a reasonable measure.
3. How do I make you fix things?
You use common sense.
You tell me what’s wrong during the update stages. Makes it easier.
You’re not satisfied with what’s happening or has happened? We can talk.
4. How do I get you to stop drawing?
You tell me to.
You pay me for any intermediate completed stages of work – within reason, of course.
You’ll get the full resolution of what I’ve done up to that point + intermediates.
5. What may I do with the art?
You can show it around for free.
You can crop it and use it as icons.
You cannot sell it, or prints of it, in any way, shape or form.
6. What will you draw for me?
You don’t get a short answer.
You scroll up and see above for the list and reasons to avoid misunderstandings.
You refrain from starting flame wars about any part of this list.
7. How do I tell you what to draw?
You send me an FA note.
You adhere to the following format:
Subject: commission request date-of-announcement – Type X
paypal address:
number of characters:
description:
-
anything else
You sit and wait for me to get back to you.
iPoke’s TOS or “how to get me to draw for you”
1. Provided Service
When commissioning me you are paying for my service as an artist, to create a piece of art (product) along specifications we will define (in written format) beforehand. Once we have agreed on a basic framework and price for what it is you want me to draw, I will begin working on the product.
Depending on the level of commission, I will send you updates upon completion of a stage of the product (sketch => lines => flats => ~). These updates will not be full-scale, but will provide you with enough visible detail to ascertain whether the desired progress has been made.
Alternatively I also provide live streaming options via picarto for immediate input while I work. Depending on the degree of detail, this option may need time allotted specifically for it in both our schedules – plan accordingly.
If you want to have your image completed towards a deadline, this will have to be agreed upon before any work is done on my part. If you fail to do this, I reserve the right to cancel the commission, or adjust the price to compensate for any conflicts that may arise from this.
When the last line is drawn, we arrive at …
2. Payment
Payment is only admissible upon completion. I realize this is unusual, but it’s what I’ve done up to now and so far I’ve made good experiences with my customers.
Once I deem the product complete, I will provide you with a final preview for approval. Once you’ve approved this final preview I will send you an invoice, either by paypal for direct transfer, or email for a bank transfer. Either way, once the payment clears, I will send you the full scale version of your commission, as well as potential downscaled versions (for upload purposes and such) – remember that banks, especially international transfers, take a lot longer – again, plan accordingly.
Should you find some minor details out of place or fixes you want me to make at this stage …
3. Revisions and Refunds
I will generally accommodate those free of charge. However, I ask you to use common sense. Down-tuning the glint on a surface, adding a tuft of fur here or there, or nudging a single finger a millimeter to the side is not that much of a hassle. Artwork revisions such as changing your assault rifle into a shotgun, or repositioning portions of a character is going to cost you extra though.
I consider it a personal matter of pride to provide my customers with the best possible product and I will go to some lengths to accommodate your wishes. In the unlikely event that we arrive at a finished product and you find something that is entirely out of place (due to false interpretation or oversight on my part) and we, for some reason, cannot reach an agreement on how to proceed on fixing it, we can discuss (partial) refunds.
Full refunds are out of the question, as my workflow provides you with ample opportunity to provide input on the product as I’m creating it for you, so there’s no reasonable chance that the entire body of work I submit is somehow compromised after the fact.
However, should you at any point during the creation process feel we’re not going in the right direction, or something else happens to make you want me to stop, there’s always the option of …
4. Cancellation
Shit happens. Either you can no longer afford the full price we agreed upon due to unforeseen circumstances, you’re dissatisfied with the progress of the commission, we reach an impasse, … ~whatever. There’s a hundred reasons why a commission should not go forward at a given time. If that is the case, let me know as soon as you possibly can.
If a commission is cancelled mid-progress, you will only have to pay for the last completed stage of the product. However, again, please use common sense. If I’m five lines away from finishing a high end piece I’ve been working on for you since the start of the month, with consistent progress, revisions and general good mood, and you cancel on me, I will expect you to pay me for the additional work already provided (this will be a partial of the full price determined by me). As with completed products, you will receive the full resolution of my work, once the payment clears.
Once I’ve sent you the finished product, and we’ve ironed out any potential creases, you’re going to want to start showing it around, which brings us to ...
5. Copyright and Distribution
Unfortunately there is no such thing as international copyright law, however there are similarities in almost all jurisdictions. The two which are relevant in this case are those of Austria, as that is where I live and produce my art, and the US, as that is where the majority of this art will be hosted upon completion. In both jurisdictions "The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work.", which means I as the artist retain any and all rights to the work I produce. Unless I specifically grant the patron the right to the work in tangible format, the rights to distribute the work, for profit or otherwise, are continued to be held by me, from moment of creation. The privilege to host or distribute my work online is not the same thing as giving them copyright of the work. Permission to distribute is granted traditionally to the patron unless otherwise stated in commission discussion before payment (this covers things like private commissions that either you or I do not wish to become public, for whatever reason). I retain the right to include your commission in sold works of my own such as prints, digitally distributed or printed portfolios, patreon or other similar services, etc. So in simple terms:
You May:
-Upload it on your own free-to-access accounts.
-Use it as an icon/profile image on your accounts.
-Print it for yourself as a badge/etc.
-Colour or ink it, or get another artist to colour or ink it, if you bought a non ink/colour piece.
You May Not:
-Use it to generate revenue for anyone, even me, without my permission.
-Put it into SL image packs, paysite galleries, or paid-type image dumps.
-Heavily edit or rework the image.
Speaking of things you may or may not …
6. Commission Subjects
There are things even a furry artist wont do. I realize I probably have a far lower tolerance threshold than many other an artist, but even so, there are things I either don’t want to draw, am uncomfortable with, or are not permissible by some other function of the universe (for instance FA upload policy :b ). Here’s a list of things I just straight up wont draw. Don’t bother asking, because it’s not going to happen, no matter how much money you wiggle in my face.
Anything including body waste, cub, pregnancy*, gore*, inflation, un/birthing, rape, torture*, feeding, snuff, fisting, hyper, transformation, herms, crossdressing, cuntboys, dickgirls
* sexual/fetish context
Aside from these hard no topics, there’s a couple’ things I’m somewhat on the fence about, or am more tending towards declining.
- The first of these is copyrighted characters or characters you don’t directly own. I would think I don’t need to explain this one, but just for clarity’s sake; if it’s a fandom character, ask the owner. It’s not that hard to do and sometimes people just don’t want their characters drawn by others and I respect that. I will be counter-checking you having asked and I will wait for confirmation, so don’t bother trying to sneak this by me.
Characters of popular franchises I will decide on on a case-by-case basis, simply because I don’t want to do the n-th rendition of Krystal fucking X character – seriously, the hot dog’s not even traveling down a hallway anymore at this point, more like ICBM launch tube
- The second, which is perhaps more surprising and controversial, is homo-erotica. Now, before you get all up in arms: I have no problem drawing two people, deeply in love, enjoying each other, and I don’t care which bits they have for doing so either, but if you’ve watched me for a while, you will have noticed a distinct absence of this in my gallery. The explanation is fairly simple – I am not passionate about the subject.
I’m not saying I wont draw homo-erotica at all. I’ve done it before after all. If you have a deep emotional connection to an idea involving your and your mate’s character and you desperately want me specifically to draw this for you, I will be happy to. I just don’t want to do another one to “add to the pile”, if that makes sense.
In before “Yea! Duh ghays R takin’ ovah!” and “wowyouhatehomostoohuh?” -No, fuck you! Get out and burn yourself you utter trash! I just don’t want to drag myself through an artistic process I have no passion for, when there’s people out there better suited for the job.
I reserve the right to refuse any proposition for no reason whatsoever, but any other topic I will be happy to discuss with you in person, once contact has been established. Which brings me around to …
7. How to apply for a slot
Subject: commission request dd.mm.yyyy – Type X (the date should be the date of the announcement)
paypal address:
number of characters:
references:
description:
Short summary of what it is you’d want to have happen in the image.
You don’t need to make it an essay, but a little more than “cat in a box” would be nice to have something to go on.
-
Anything else you can think of wanting to include; personal notes, details, etc. *entirely optional
I will hold onto the info, and sort through the notes I get, but it's not a waiting list or guarantee. Since the in-box is likely going to be rather full, I can’t promise to reply to every last one of them, although I do try – I will definitely reply to the ones I’m taking on, as well as the ones I’m declining for whatever reason.
I will be displaying a(n anonymous) public list of slot openings for a given month and crossing people off the list upon completion, however I will not be posting another announcement for openings until the next month.
If you see a slot in this list as open, you can submit a commission request as per the format above. If you didn’t hear back from me after the opening announcement and the slots were already filled before, this is an opportunity to perhaps get your idea in this month after all.
tl;dr-version
1. What do you do?
You hire me to draw something for you.
You get updates along every stage of the commission.
You want to get it done by a specific time? Tell me!
2. What about payment?
You pay me after I’m done.
You get a preview image when I’m done. After you pay, you get the big, pretty version :3
You can tell me to fix minor details within a reasonable measure.
3. How do I make you fix things?
You use common sense.
You tell me what’s wrong during the update stages. Makes it easier.
You’re not satisfied with what’s happening or has happened? We can talk.
4. How do I get you to stop drawing?
You tell me to.
You pay me for any intermediate completed stages of work – within reason, of course.
You’ll get the full resolution of what I’ve done up to that point + intermediates.
5. What may I do with the art?
You can show it around for free.
You can crop it and use it as icons.
You cannot sell it, or prints of it, in any way, shape or form.
6. What will you draw for me?
You don’t get a short answer.
You scroll up and see above for the list and reasons to avoid misunderstandings.
You refrain from starting flame wars about any part of this list.
7. How do I tell you what to draw?
You adhere to the following format:
Subject: commission request date-of-announcement – Type X
paypal address:
number of characters:
description:
-
anything else
You sit and wait for me to get back to you.
360° is a full circle.
I might be just be very sleepy and not thinking straight, but I have two ideas that you're either:
A) marked stuff that you maaay draw, but under very specific circumstances/ideas
B) marked those that will make person (asking you to draw) go straight into your personal blacklist.
I apologize in advance if I asked something I should not have
The * marking refers to these topics in a sexual and/or fetish context (as defined just below the list).
What I mean is that I'll be happy to draw (for instance) a pregnant character, so long as sex or fetishism is neither implied nor displayed.
Again, thank you very much
To be fair, your statement is not wrong in principle, however in cases of online transactions of this nature, there's several reasons why doing things this way is favorable to many others.
For starters it establishes that there is a willingness to engage in a contract of trust between the parties involved. Most artists tend to charge their customers before any work has been done to guard against runaway commissioners. Since I'm not comfortable holding money I haven't earned yet, I extend a measure of trust to my customers to remain true to the agreement. A customer's willingness to share the relevant information for being charged in advance tells me that they are willing to extend an equal measure of trust towards me.
Secondly it also tells me that the commissioning party actually has a means to pay me with. There's more than one story out there of artists who failed to confirm an ability to pay beforehand and then ended up having to run after their paycheck for ages. Now, I've been around long enough to believe I'll know which commission requests to look out for, but I'm not infallible and this is one way of at least resembling security on my part (i.e. determinig whether the customer is a valid option for me to engage in reserving a slot for, that might otherwise potentially accomodate another, actually paying customer).
Another point is that this is the SOP I've seen many artists I look to for guidance use and I feel it's a good system. In theory the commissioning party has no risk, as just having the information is not enough for me to cause them any damage, were I so inclined. I can't forcibly withdraw money from an account after all and there is no additional information present for me to exploit besides the email address. I realize that the data-protection laws in many countries these days would probably raise at least one eyebrow at this, but I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever heard of a furry artist or commissioner actually going to court over a grievance.
Having said all that, these are just my terms of service. The guidelines along which I'm willing to work with a given party and it is their choice whether to engage with me along these guidelines or not. I can't (and don't want to) make anyone do anything and therefore it's entirely up to the commissioning party whether they are comfortable with this arrangement or not. However, as Charix said below, unless a potential customer is planning to defraud me anyway, there's no reason why they should be uncomfortable with sharing their paypal address with me beforehand. The point of contact is private and all critical informations recieved will remain private throughout and after the process. Addresses of commissions that are actually followed through on I have to retain by law, as I'm required to maintain a record of where and when I've received a given sum of money, but that's handled by paypal anyway, so it's out of my hands once an invoice has been sent. If no business agreement is reached, I simply dispose of the information, as it holds no value for me. Credit where credit is due though, I suppose that should probably be stated in the tos, even if it is common sense.
As much as even I know that assuming you wouldn't keep the data afterward would be common sense, I'm of the belief that people aren't worth the scum on a soldier's boot where it comes to good faith in their intentions. Common sense is just too rare to give people the benefit of the doubt anymore, but if you have yourself in a system that works for you I'm not going to question it. You've clearly got yourself straight at least, certainly straighter than I do with how I handle my own TOS, and it works for you so in the end that's all that matters.
Additionally, the fact that the email is attached to PayPal should not be a concern for any reason, since that email will be presented to the business in the event of work being done anyway, so unless the patron intends to defraud the business, they will be releasing that information in the future anyway. Either they trust the business or they do not, and the timing of the provision of information in the communication chain is not of consequence in the event the requirement is communicated prior to opt-in activity and the information is reasonably expected to be necessary or important to the transaction. If the patron reviews the requirements prior to opting in, then opts in to send the information, they have no leg to stand on legally as they opted in. And while an argument could be attempted in some jurisdictions that the requirements are too onerous for such a transaction along the lines of personal information, and if the transaction could go without them it should not be blocked on the basis of not providing the information, the counterpoint is that the transaction cannot reasonably move forward to completion without the information at which point the timing of the request is immaterial.
Yes, the first "paragraph" is one sentence.
If you have more than a potential feeling, please feel free to cite the legal jurisdiction and framework under which the offense exists.
If someone is paying you to create something, unless you specifically state otherwise, it is considered 'work for hire' and the person paying you has the copyright, not you.
So please make it clear that you are not 'work for hire' and that you retain all copyrights. That will help if legal issues or other problems arise. They won't be able to claim you didn't make it clear that it wasn't 'work for hire' which is the default here.
Too many people don't understand this aspect of copyright law.
Particularly:
Specially Ordered or Commissioned Works
A specially ordered or commissioned work is considered a work made for hire if it satisfies all of the
following four criteria:
1. The work must fall within one of the nine categories of works listed above that are eligible to
be specially ordered or commissioned as works made for hire.
-- Categories included inline for clarity:
• An atlas
• A test
• Answer material for a test
• A translation
• A part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work
• A compilation
• A contribution to a collective work
• A supplementary work
• An instructional test
2. There must be a written agreement between the party that ordered or commissioned the
work and individual(s) who actually created the work.
3. In the written agreement, the parties must expressly agree that the work is to be considered a
work made for hire.
4. The agreement must be signed by all parties.
If a work fails to satisfy any of these requirements, it is not a work made for hire
You are correct in your final sentence though. Too many people don't understand this aspect of copyright law.
Are you a lawyer? I'm not. I'm just going by my experience with the law. None of what I said is meant to be legal advice, just a suggestion.
The accurate statement is:
"If it was not made clear that it was a work for hire, it CANNOT be considered a work for hire."
You called out the journal poster and incorrectly claimed it was incorrect and have admitted it's only your experience with the law.
I have called out your incorrect claim of incorrectness and linked directly to the law involved as a source. Please feel free to review this resource and increase your experience level, and if you have official sources that add information, I would be interested to learn as well. Or if it helps, you can provide the source details of your experience and we can see if there is something more involved in what you encountered, since the claim runs completely contrary to plain English words.
Please feel free and encouraged to provide evidence otherwise, or point out where the source that indicates your inaccuracy is incorrect.
However I will note that your knowledge of the law is probably less than you think it is.
Also, I don't owe you shit. Now, you can claim I was mistaken, or that I'm simply wrong, which would have been fine, I'm not here to get into arguments. This isn't my page.
Instead, you went full asshole. Never go full asshole.
Have a good day.
Read the law. You're a writer. You know what words mean. You should be able to comprehend them better than most. If you feel you don't understand it, consult a lawyer. You are technically in business after all with your writing published on Amazon. And try to avoid providing legal advice that the words on the paper from the legal entity in charge contradicts without a good source of information to indicate why.
Also, your writings' cover art, unless you're drawing it yourself, indicates that you may be in severe danger of legal repercussions should you maintain a belief that the commissioned work defaults to Work for Hire status. Just to put it into perspective for you, per my retained lawyer:
"If the artist was not directly employed by the writer per agency common law and there is not a contract signed by both of them stating it's a work for hire to add to the fact that it's a supplementary work for the writer's novels, and the writer is relying on a the lack of the contract stating it's not a work for hire rather than an express transfer of right, title, and interest, the writer could be subject to some unexpected legal problems in the future should the artist decide to create them."
And also per that retained lawyer:
"Legal agreements and contracts with extraneous text that reaffirms default legal conditions eschew clarity and increase complexity in the event of necessary legal action. They should be avoided." She likened advice to put "This is not a Work for Hire" in the contact to putting "You are not permitted to shoot me if I am late on the work" in the contract. Both are true by default and adding them to the contract is not a good idea.
But making sure that either a work for hire clause (which your cover art qualifies for) or a proper transfer of rights is included is critical for you, so please ensure you do it and don't rely on a lack of wording saying it's not a work for hire.
>-Heavily edit or rework the image.
I am curious what this is aiming to prevent.
While there's very few of my characters who are not permissible for adult material, I understand and support the sentiment and while commissions will not usually feature them anyway, this is also meant to guard against people editing the images to resemble things I most definitely did not agree to drawing and then have that come back to me.
I realize I obviously can't actually stop people from doing this, but I can discourage it and it'd definitely make me think twice about granting a customer (or associated person) a slot in the future if I found out they did something like this and having it written somewhere is just good policy to avoid misunderstandings and uncomfortable situations.
Since things are becoming more professional on my end, time to drop the vague terms :)