Copyright with Cover Artist?

Hi everyone,
I'm in the middle of figuring out my book cover and have ended up with a wall. I am afraid of royalties, i.e. the artist wanting more than the commission. What do I do to avoid this from happening? What did you guys do when you commissioned a cover artist?

 

I've dealt with artists before (not for book covers but other things)

When you commission someone to do a custom you have to specify the type of commission. most pros already have a contract temple for this, the type of commission can be for a percent of the royalties (net or gross) or it can be a one time payment to buy the rights for commercial use. In the second case you will be asked to include the illustrator's name/company or in some cases pay extra so it wouldn't be included. The second option I've only seen in stock image sites, the artists I've worked with have always required their name or pen-name be included to get more business.

Also be sure to include a deadline in the contract that's at least two weeks before you really need it, one thing I've noticed about... well not all but I'll say 99% of artists is that they can be temperamental, meaning that unless they're inspired or are close friends of yours they'll probably wait till the deadline to deliver the piece.

Pros that live on commissions not include in this statement... most of the time.

 

Consider creating your own contract and propose it when you are negotiating a commission price. You are right, many authors have their own boilerplate contracts, but it provides you an initial basis to negotiate or insert clauses or wording favorable (to you) in the contract.

 

This is what my contract looks like for providing cover artwork when I do it outside of SelfPubBookCovers:

This Agreement ("Agreement") is entered this day 00 of (month, year) between Artist Name ("Artist") and Author Name ("Client") shall govern the respective rights of Artist and Client with respect to the artwork described herein.

ARTIST NAME:
ADDRESS:
EMAIL:
PHONE NUMBER:

CLIENT NAME:
ORGANIZATION:
ADDRESS:
EMAIL:
PHONE / FAX NUMBER:

The parties agree as follows:

1. Scope of Work
Artist and Client expressly agree that the artwork (name of the piece) , hereafter known as "the Work", was created by (artist's name).

2. Copyright
Artist and Client agree that the following rights shall be transferred from Artist to Client upon
completion of the Work. Any rights not expressly specified herein shall be reserved by Artist.

One-Time Rights.
Artist hereby grants and assigns to Client the limited right to utilize the Work for the
one-time purpose of (here you would put something like "use of the Work as an ebook cover"), with all remaining rights relating to publication, or other uses not specified herein to be reserved by Artist. Artist expressly reserves all right, title and ownership of all original artwork produced pursuant to this Agreement, including all preliminary materials including but not limited to sketches and comps.

3. Payment and credit
Artist is allowing use of the Work for (the price the artist charges) payable to Client.

4. Form of copyright notice
Where applicable, the artist will be given any necessary credit for usage of the Work. Client agrees to provide copyright notice in the name of the Artist as follows:

"Cover Illustration © (date), (name of artist)"

5. Unauthorized Use by Client, Indemnity
Client agrees to indemnify Artist against any and all claims and expenses, including but not limited to attorney's fees and costs, incurred as a result of Client’s unauthorized use of the Work under this Agreement, including the enforcement of this Agreement by Artist.

6. Warranty of Originality
Artist represents and warrants to Client that, to the best of Artist’s knowledge and belief, the Work assigned by this Agreement is original and has not been previously published or licensed to any third party. This warranty shall not extend to any unauthorized or undisclosed use of the Work by Client which may infringe upon the rights of any other person. Client agrees that it shall hold Artist harmless for any claim or liability caused by Client’s use of Artist’s product to the extent such use infringes upon the rights of any other person.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the parties hereto have executed this Agreement on the day and year written above.

ARTIST SIGNATURE ______________________________________________
CLIENT SIGNATURE ______________________________________________

 

Basically that says the client has one time use - as a cover - for the piece of artwork they are buying. If the author wants to use the artwork as a poster, on a t-shirt or whatever, other things for sale, that would add other stuff to the contract. I also usually have a paragraph for advertising; this is just the bare bones of a contract, as an example. Anyways, it would be extremely unusual for an artist to get royalties for a small press book cover, so I don't think you need to worry much about that.

 

Thank you so much! This has been nagging me all day. I love the rough sketch I received but have been too afraid to continue until I figure things out. If all I want for now is a book cover then a contract will not be necessary? Sorry for all the questions everyone, this will be my first work so I currently know squat.

 

Well, if there's anything I've learned from the 800 episodes of Judge Judy my mom likes to watch per day, it's ALWAYS HAVE A CONTRACT. But seriously, safe is better than sorry. Feel free to use mine if you want!

 

Update on this debacle. I sent the cover artist an email with terms, which in law terms is definitely a contract. I think I stopped a possible scam from happening for I haven't heard from the dude after sending my contract email. Good thing I didn't pay, but now I'm in need of a cover and have zero trust in the peeps on deviant art. Do any of you have an artist suggestion that a poor college student can get behind?

 

What's your budget? I could help you out. Think of it as a forum buddy discount
I do this for a living, I don't mind doing someone a favor once in a while.

 

$100 or a bit higher. I've never had a cover made before so I don't know if this price is a rip-off or a steal.

 

That's right in my range, hit me up on the messenger or email if you're interested