A while back I did a painting as a gift for a local Harley dealer to be displayed in their dealership. At the time I thought it would make a great T-shirt and low and behold they have finally inquired about using it for that. I'm all for it, but don't really know much about what my entitlement should be here in the way of royalties, etc.
What kind of a percentage would you receive on something like that? How do you keep tabs on that stuff to know if you are being treated fairly? Is it going to be more trouble than it's worth? Maybe it would bennifit me more to just let them have the use of it and have my name on the back as secondary copy to their name.
[ May 10, 2006, 02:42 PM: Message edited by: Bevin Finlay ]
Posted by Kelsey Dum (Member # 6101) on :
Putting your name on there would be really cool. I've never experienced anything like that, but wouldn't expect more than like 5%. Maybe I'm wrong. Have they made an offer yet or are they waiting on you?
I also have a question for you, on a thread below, about transfering images.
Posted by Tracie Johnson (Member # 6117) on :
How about: "Normally, I would charge $500 to release the copyright to you on my artwork, but because we did not discuss this in advance, I'm willing to do it for $200 if we put my name on the back of the shirt as well."
I just picked numbers by the way, and am not really suggesting a price. I just think it's important to put a real value on your work even if you don't end up charging that in the long run.
Posted by Stefanie Fox (Member # 6523) on :
Tracie is right about assessing a real value to artwork. Otherwise people will think that your ideas are not worth money, which is how we make a living. I once had a Country Club Manager tell me that he felt that "art should be free". It was all I could do to not slap his head off. I told him that as soon as his club offered golf for free that I would offer my services for the same amount.
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
Stefanie - sounds to me like the country clubber wasn't given the courtesy yelp of "fore" more than once....and must have got bonked in the head to come up with such a silly notion. Sounds like you had the perfect retort.
Bevin - can you either make, or sub out the t-shirts and sell them through your business so that you have full control over the price and numbers?
I think I'd be inclined to tell them, "I'll tell you what...I can produce shirts and I'll sell them to you in quantities of "X" for "X" price.....
Posted by Rosemary (Member # 1926) on :
This advice isn't mine but from someone I love. "Forget percentages. You can't control sales and sales reports on artwork. Its an intangible anyway. Charge a specific fee for your artwork and move on."
My Dad never rests on his laurels. Once a job is done or artwork is finished he collects a check and forgets about it.
me Posted by Rick Chavez (Member # 2146) on :
You can give them a flat rate for a certain amount of units. If the shirt design gets sold on a larger level, then you can negotiate a percentage. That way you get paid upfront, maintain your rights and if it gets picked up on a larger scale, it will be worth your while to pursue the percentage (I would think 5-10% is adequate) The GAG book has information on the common practice of pricing and contracts for illustration and artwork for novalty items.
I recommend posting your question over at the www.usscreen.com forums . I suspect someone there might have some actual experience that relates to your question.
For myself, I'm working on a garment line for "Bootywax". Not only will I be getting a commission on the designs, but I'll also be handling distribution and fulfillment.
In this particular arrangement, I'm getting 8.5% commission for the designs alone.
.
Posted by Barry Branscum (Member # 445) on :
Glenn,
BOOTYwax???
......... Posted by Rosemary (Member # 1926) on :
Yes! Its for guys. You coat their behinds with PB240, add a piece of bulap on top, let it cure for 24 hours, take a firm grip on one end and......................
me Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
Yep.
Its a pretty cool car wax. They just came out with "Purple Glaze". So, I'm gonna try a little Hendrix treatment on the t-shirts (no lighter fluid or consciousness expanding inks though).
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
quote:Originally posted by Rosemary: Yes! Its for guys. You coat their behinds with PB240, add a piece of bulap on top, let it cure for 24 hours, take a firm grip on one end and......................
me
Oy vey!
This is the logo I came up with a while back. He had two requirements....Had to have one of those over-done swooshes and the lettering had to be a rainbow blend. Whoopie.
.
[ May 10, 2006, 08:16 PM: Message edited by: Glenn Taylor ]
Posted by Stefanie Fox (Member # 6523) on :
Rosemary, BAAAHAHAAHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! :-)
Posted by Tom Rose (Member # 606) on :
Hi Bevin,
About 12 or so years ago I did three paintings for Don Garlits. He had prints of them made ( at his expense ) and sold them in his gift shop at the Museum of Drag Racing. I was to get 15% of the sale price and I did for about 3 or so years while his son-in-law ran that end of the Museum.
The paintings we on loan to the museum until I got them back a couple of years ago. But funny thing, the 15% stopped coming a long time ago!
He ( Garlits ) is still selling them in his gift shop and even has my name wrong on one. One was Swamp Rat 1, the other was Wynn's Charger. You can check them out at www.garlits.com - click gift shop then posters.
My advice would be to settle on a flat fee of whatever you think your art is worth, That way at least you won't get screwed over! Good luck...
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
You have no control over how well they promote or sell the items with your artwork. If you rely on royalties alone you are risking not making a single dime at all if they don't push the product.
Flat rate will shock the bejeebies out of the customer ($$$$) but it's so much easier than trying to keep up with who's using what image for what use and for how long.
You can grant an unlimited license for them to use the artwork yet still retain ownership of it so you can use it.
This comes up in the photography forums too. Photographers want to maintain their rights but jeeze.. I've shot 50,000 images the past year. If I had to maintain and keep track of licensing on all of them for perpetuity, plus all the images I'm going to shoot in the future, I'd go absolutely insane and bury myself under paperwork.
Posted by Bevin Finlay (Member # 2159) on :
Thanks for all your input so far everyone. It has been helpful! I would say at this point that with this particular situation I would be leaning towards the suggestions of going with an up front fee or arrangement of some type to sell the rights to the artwork and be done with it. It does seem like less of a headache in the long run but I welcome other peoples suggestions or comments on this still.
Posted by Mark Matyjakowski (Member # 294) on :
Sounds like a job for a buddy just to sell shirts to promote his shop ... as opposed to a mass marketing deal. Maybe get a flat fee for a license to print up to X number of shirts. Hold the rights just in case it goes mass market. Have your copyright marks on the art ... not name on back.
Bootywax ... rainbow blend ... how gay is that? not that there's anything wrong with that Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
Yeah personally I'd never rub something called "Bootywax" all over my vehicle but hey, Glenn's in North Carolina, they go for that sorta thing there.
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