Original comic art - ownership

[James Newell]

to the group for your opinion.

i was asked to quote to do draw a short comic story by a, lets say, kick-starter publisher\writer which I was totally into doing.

I quoted low to get the gig.

When it came to contracts, the publisher\writer asked if the final output is digital or paper, I was honest and said its paper drawing and scanned for sending.

they then said they want the original, and this is standard for them.

I was a bit taken back, and did not get it, was never asked for original before by anyone, payed commission or otherwise, but I said no, the page quote would have to be more if they expected the original art, they refused to continue with the contract and we left it at that.

Now, I was not handing over my originals in any reality for what I quoted and I know I was not going to get the gig if I uped the quote to compensate me for not having the originals to sell on some time in the future (not that I thing that that will have any value in the future) but, I feel that if I said the work is digital, we would be firing ahead with the commission and no disagreement would have come up at the early stage of agreeing a contract for the work.

I am sure its down to the experiences of the writer/publisher for asking for the physical work when comic work is already vastly low payed, but then again maybe I am the unreachable one.

Any comments from the group on this or similar experiences?

thanks

james

[PJ Holden]

Hi James, no group as yet (we’re it! - I’ve literally just set the group up the other day …!)

BUT I’m happy to talk about this!

Firstly demanding the original art is bang out of order - no one does it in the professional sphere at all, and where original art has been sent it’s been returned.

Secondly, I think you’ve had a narrow escape here. It’s likely this was gonna be the first of many hurdles down the line that would make you really regret taking the gig. (And there’s so many ways for this to go wrong)

(Basically demanding the original art is a bit of a red flag, selling original art is a hard slog, unless you’ve a big name AND the art is something people are clamouring for, with a gig like this it’s unlikely any of the art will sell [except maybe if the original artist is selling it at a show], unless it’s part of the kickstarter (ie pay £200 and get a page plus the comic!) but even then you should be recompensed for that. So what use the original art will be to them is questionable. But on a low page rate (which I’m guessing this is, and by low - 2000ad beginner page rate is £120pp - maybe more now - DC $300 Marvel $250 ) it’s not unreasonable to expect you to own more rights on the project, but I’m guessing if they wanted the originals then the copyright ownership was never gonna be a feeature…)

Hope that helps.

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[James Newell]

Thanks P.J.

Figured asking for the original art also was the not done thing in this day and age, as I never came across it before in comic commissions or collaborations.

So, it great to get a seasoned comic creators perspective on this as you must have seen it all.

And yes, I am sure there ware other surprised to follow if I continued down this commission, well, live and learn.

 look forward to seeming the NICCC develope!

thanks again

james