Page 1 of 1

Transferring rights for artwork (when hiring an artist)

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:02 pm
by Josh1billion
Hi all,

I have hired a paid artist for my game (and also 2+ other volunteers who want to do some artwork for free).

Now I'm going to have to write up a legal document and have him print it out and sign it, so I'm looking for suggestions on what the document should say. I of course want full ownership rights over the artwork...

Here's what I had in mind, something along the lines of:
I, [ARTIST's FIRST AND LAST NAME], am hereby transferring full ownership of the enclosed images, their intellectual properties, and their likenesses to Joshua Forde. The enclosed images are hereby the property of Joshua Forde. I understand and agree that I am giving* all rights to Joshua Forde for any usage, distribution, modification, alteration, and sale of the below images, their intellectual properties, and their likenesses.

[IMAGES ARE PRINTED HERE ON THE SAME PAGE]

[ARTIST SIGNS NAME]
* I used "giving" rather than "selling, for the amount of [AMOUNT IN WORDS AND NUMERICALLY] dollars" to potentially make things simpler-- I imagine if there was a situation where I had to prove that I sent the payment and if for some reason there wasn't a paper trail on it (though my bank would likely have a record of the check being sent and cashed), things could be tricky. But I'm probably just worrying too much about it in reality.

Any suggestions for improvement?

Re: Transferring rights for artwork (when hiring an artist)

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:30 pm
by s.dot
What about the rights for him to use the images in other projects or to sell the images to other parties?

Re: Transferring rights for artwork (when hiring an artist)

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 4:14 pm
by alex.barylski
scottayy wrote:What about the rights for him to use the images in other projects or to sell the images to other parties?
I think that is covered by the statement:
transferring full ownership
Although I would certainly indicate the agreed upon cost in the document and keep a copy for yourself...otherwise there is nothing stopping him from claiming you never paid him in full.

Edit: Maybe the words transfering full ownership are to vague. Perhaps you should say 'copyright' instead. As I understand it, if the copyright is yours, you are free to do with it as you please. Just to be safe I'd consult a lawyer. :banghead:

Re: Transferring rights for artwork (when hiring an artist)

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 4:53 pm
by RobertGonzalez
Get a lawyer.

Re: Transferring rights for artwork (when hiring an artist)

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:15 am
by Josh1billion
Everah wrote:Get a lawyer.
Too expensive, especially for such a simple document, and I'd expect this sort of document to be very common.

Here's a revised version with your Scottayy's and Hockey's suggestions in mind; changes are bolded. I also added in some information regarding the digital copies of the artwork (you know, bmp/png/whatever files):
I, [ARTIST's FIRST AND LAST NAME], am hereby transferring full ownership and copyright of the enclosed images, their intellectual properties, and their likenesses (including, but not limited to, any and all digital entities depicting, in large or small part, the enclosed images, modified or unmodified)to Joshua Forde. The enclosed images are hereby the property of Joshua Forde. I understand and agree that I am giving all rights to Joshua Forde for any usage, distribution, modification, alteration, and sale of the below images, their intellectual properties, and their likenesses. I acknowledge that I will no longer have any ownership or rights over the images, their intellectual properties, and their likenesses (including, but not limited to, any and all digital entities depicting, in large or small part, the enclosed images, modified or unmodified).

[IMAGES ARE PRINTED HERE ON THE SAME PAGE]

[ARTIST SIGNS NAME]