Usage by Larry Moore (a study on the rights of artists)

The following is a reprint from an article in Larry Moore's blog. I thought it was interesting and helpful for our members to know

Monday, September 15, 2008
Useage
Some of you as artists may be faced with the prospect of some company wanting to use your art to promote their business. Since most artists don't know a thing about usage and I was an illustrator for 20 some-odd years, I might be able to help a bit in this area. I have, in my career as an artist and illustrator, been approached by clients who wanted to use my work and in return I'd get "exposure" and a few free t-shirts or samples. I can tell you from experience a one time shot of a poster or directory cover will give you exposure with little return. Maybe after the 30th or 40th time your work is reproduced you may get people who say "oh yeah, i think i saw your work somewhere". If a company is going to benefit financially from the use of your work, you should too. I often use the simple metaphor of the rental car to explain how usage works: if you rent the car for a day that's one fee, a month is a much bigger fee. If you are going to drive the car all around the US, it gets bigger still and if you eventually want to park the car in your garage for keeps. That's a separate fee.
Now every situation is different and while there are guidelines, there's no hard n fast law on how to do it. But there are considerations:
1) How big will it reproduce?
2)How many will see it?
3) How long will it be seen?
4)What geographic area will it be seen in?
5) In how many ways will it be used?
6) What's in the budget?

Some companies have no idea about usage but most do, especially if they've done this thing before. Some want to get what you have for the least amount and some are very fair. My first rule of thumb is to ask what they have in their budget and if they say "well, we have these beads!" then I'm out unless I can benefit in some other way. All things are negotiable. Maybe I get 50 posters I can sell, maybe I get a fee booth at the art fair, maybe it's fair trade for whatever they're selling or maybe it's just for a good cause and so what the hell.

What brought this to mind is the above sample. It was for a small local orange grove with not a big budget, I started with a number, they countered with less, I said okay but you can only use it this much and in the end they decided to purchase the original in addition to the usage and all were happy. So... don't give it away and if you want a good source for this kind of thing pick up the Graphic Artists Guild Pricing and Ethical Guidelines handbook at your local bookstore.
Posted by larry moore at 11:55 AM 0 comments