naiadestricolor:
artcorgi:
Happy Sunday!
We’ve noticed some confusion/misunderstandings floating around about the licenses clients are given to artists’ commissions.
If you sell a commission through ArtCorgi, you grant your client a worldwide, fully-paid, royalty-free, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-commercial, perpetual license to your clients with the right to reproduce, distribute, transmit, create derivative works of, and publicly display their commissions for personal purposes.
Woof. Legal things. They’re… fun.
In a very un-official capacity (we are not lawyers- these are very informal examples and explanations) let’s break that license down and give some clarification and examples of what those terms are specifying:
Worldwide: It doesn’t matter if your client is in Toronto or Tokyo, your client can use your commission within the bounds of this license.
Fully-paid: Your client has paid you. Your client is not expected to pay you more to use the commission within the bounds of this license.
Royalty-free: For example, your client does not have to pay royalties every time she shares her commission with her friends on Twitter or has it printed on something (like a pillow or canvas) for personal uses.
Non-exclusive: You, the artist, can license that commission to other people. Say someone really wants to use it as an album cover. Great. Sell them rights to do so. It’s fine by this license.
Non-transferable: Your client cannot give her license to another person. Only she can have it.
Non-commercial: Your client cannot use the commission for commercial purposes, such as advertising or promotion. Your client cannot sell things incorporating your commission (like shirts) for profit.
Perpetual: Your client’s rights do not have a set expiration date (say, on January 18th, 2015, for example).
To reproduce: This makes it possible for your client to reproduce your commission within the bounds of this license (that is, for personal, non-commercial reasons). For example, your client can print your commission on a poster he displays in his living room, or have it printed on a Christmas card he sends to friends.
Distribute: See the above example. Your client will have the right to share his commission for personal purposes.
Transmit: For example, your client can share the commission on Facebook and Twitter.
Create derivative works of: This means your client can alter her commission. For example, your client use your commission to create an engagement card with text overlay or crop the image to use it as a social media avatar.
Publicly display: This allows your client to display the work you created. For example, your client can showcase your commission as his Facebook cover photo.
Personal purposes: This means your client does not have permission to use the work for commercial purposes. You client can only distribute, reproduce, display, etc. your commission for personal purposes- not to earn money or promote a business.
For an official explanation of what all the terms in our contract mean, please consult a lawyer.
We hope that helps to clear things up. Please don’t take these examples and interpretations to be legal doctrine. For official definitions of these terms, go to a trustworthy legal site or consult a professional.
We simply want to dispel any concern that our terms are out to get artists in some way. We created them only after sending emails to hundreds of artists and speaking with them about terms that would suit them best.
To see all of our terms, check out our artist contract.
To learn more about what it’s like being an artist on ArtCorgi, swing by our artist guide.
If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, ping us! We’re always checking our email.
I was just about to dig up my copy of the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines and look up these legal terms myself since people on Tumblr seem to only be reblogging regurgitated hysteria about this, so thank you.
That being said, I will not dissuade or encourage people to use ArtCorgi if they don’t want to or do want to because, y’know, that’s your business. However this is a really good case of why reading and understanding Terms of Services (and similar contracts) is really, really important. If you truly do not understand the legal jargon, it would be in your best interest to do some research and/or contact a lawyer.
This got blown up way more than it should have and it makes me sad that ArtCorgi is getting slammed with this right out of the gate because someone decided to spread incorrect information.