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Do You Do "Free Commissions" Artist Page 4
CLIENTS: Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3
ARTISTS: Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4
13. Art theft is a common occurrence and every artist goes through this once in a while. It could be a fan who doesn't know any better or didn't credit your work, a past client who didn't read about the rights they have regarding the commissioned image from your T.O.S, or someone who doesn't know about the copyright law all artists are protected by. you ( the artist ) should handle the situation with very little hostility.
Having your art stolen sucks. It really does. It even sucks harder if they use the stolen art for their own personal profit. When this happens, all you can do is keep records of the events and try to talk to the person who stole your work in a calm manner. Tell them that what they stole is something you created, show them the original compared to the stolen one, and you tell them to STOP. Sometimes they can retaliate and play the “innocent” card when they clearly knew that they are in fault. They will try to put the blame on you, telling you that you are a bully and that they did nothing wrong. This is when you tell them again that they need to stop stealing/using your work without your permission or else you will have to take legal action. Such actions are: a Cease and Desist from your lawyer and contacting the owner of the site they are posting your stolen work from. You do not want to get your fans involved and use them as ammunition for your battle. All your fans can do is help support you on the sideline. That is all. This is just between you and the art thief. Adding your fans into the fight will only make things worse and you will come off as the bad guy in this mess.
Art theft is one of the major things I learned in Art College. My teachers taught us how to protect our artwork from poaching and thieves. This includes watermarks, putting up low res scans of your work, mailing the original to yourself with a government mailing stamp on the unopen envelope, etc. These methods are effective and it will be harder for thieves to edit or claim your work without editing the hell out of it to the point where it looks terrible. If by any chance you have to go through court to settle the theft dispute, bring all original artwork in question. Having the original, signed and dated, shows that you are the creator and you own the rights to the illustration, while the thief only has online digital prints.
You are maybe asking “how can I use all these steps at conventions?” Its all common sense: make sure you have enough money, have a physical print out of your reference sheet in many copies ( believe me, this is a life saver ), know what you want to commission the artist for, and remain in contact. For artists, make sure you have a sign saying you are open or closed for commission, make sure you have all the clients info including contact information and reference sheets, send them WIP whenever you can, and don't overwork yourself. Your TOS still applies to you at convention tables, so makes sure you show the client your TOS online if they have any questions on how you run your business.
I hope all these steps have been useful to you, both as an artist and client. Remember that not Artists follow these steps as they run their own business their own way. If you have any questions on how the artist runs their business or if you are an starting artist that is stuck in a client-artist situation, don't be afraid to ask other artists for guidance.
artwork © Alex Cockburn ( Ookami Kemono ). All Rights Reserved.
ARTISTS: Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4
13. Art theft is a common occurrence and every artist goes through this once in a while. It could be a fan who doesn't know any better or didn't credit your work, a past client who didn't read about the rights they have regarding the commissioned image from your T.O.S, or someone who doesn't know about the copyright law all artists are protected by. you ( the artist ) should handle the situation with very little hostility.
Having your art stolen sucks. It really does. It even sucks harder if they use the stolen art for their own personal profit. When this happens, all you can do is keep records of the events and try to talk to the person who stole your work in a calm manner. Tell them that what they stole is something you created, show them the original compared to the stolen one, and you tell them to STOP. Sometimes they can retaliate and play the “innocent” card when they clearly knew that they are in fault. They will try to put the blame on you, telling you that you are a bully and that they did nothing wrong. This is when you tell them again that they need to stop stealing/using your work without your permission or else you will have to take legal action. Such actions are: a Cease and Desist from your lawyer and contacting the owner of the site they are posting your stolen work from. You do not want to get your fans involved and use them as ammunition for your battle. All your fans can do is help support you on the sideline. That is all. This is just between you and the art thief. Adding your fans into the fight will only make things worse and you will come off as the bad guy in this mess.
Art theft is one of the major things I learned in Art College. My teachers taught us how to protect our artwork from poaching and thieves. This includes watermarks, putting up low res scans of your work, mailing the original to yourself with a government mailing stamp on the unopen envelope, etc. These methods are effective and it will be harder for thieves to edit or claim your work without editing the hell out of it to the point where it looks terrible. If by any chance you have to go through court to settle the theft dispute, bring all original artwork in question. Having the original, signed and dated, shows that you are the creator and you own the rights to the illustration, while the thief only has online digital prints.
You are maybe asking “how can I use all these steps at conventions?” Its all common sense: make sure you have enough money, have a physical print out of your reference sheet in many copies ( believe me, this is a life saver ), know what you want to commission the artist for, and remain in contact. For artists, make sure you have a sign saying you are open or closed for commission, make sure you have all the clients info including contact information and reference sheets, send them WIP whenever you can, and don't overwork yourself. Your TOS still applies to you at convention tables, so makes sure you show the client your TOS online if they have any questions on how you run your business.
I hope all these steps have been useful to you, both as an artist and client. Remember that not Artists follow these steps as they run their own business their own way. If you have any questions on how the artist runs their business or if you are an starting artist that is stuck in a client-artist situation, don't be afraid to ask other artists for guidance.
artwork © Alex Cockburn ( Ookami Kemono ). All Rights Reserved.
Category All / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 842 x 1089px
File Size 627.9 kB
Listed in Folders
I have to correct one point: The "poor mans copyright" is pretty much useless as it is trivial to mail yourself an unsealed or minimally sealed envelope. That means if you try and rely on it as proof of creation date you are right back to a he said/she said.
You would be far better off finding a notary that will do timestamping for copyright. It is quite possible that your bank provides notary services for free or a minimal fee.
You would be far better off finding a notary that will do timestamping for copyright. It is quite possible that your bank provides notary services for free or a minimal fee.
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