Licensing Agreements...where to go?

[Falconius]

I would figure you could also add a copy limit to the time limit, so you could have a fairly long time limit but still protect yourself. eg. "Until the year 2020, or until 10,000 copies."

[J.Edward]

It's no problem Storm. I just realized today that I'd missed that message from days back.
What you said in regard to Midgard is correct. Yes, you can write it in plain language and it will be binding when signed.

The time allowance is just a parameter that you are setting as a term for the license.
So, say you said the license is for 5 years... after 5 years they would no longer be able to use the map [work] unless they received another license.
Then they would either negotiate with you or seek another to make a new map.

It can also be stated for a limited number of print runs.
I imagine this will get more complicated as more and more books never see print and are only digital.
But that just means new agreements will need to be written to take that into account.

[TimPaul]

There are books out there that have boilerplate contracts for freelance artists, that cover a variety of situations, including this.

And yes, your contract can be written by yourself, in plain language. That's how I do mine.

Here is what I generally grant in my licensing contract for someone writing their own novel.

Lifetime use, for English publication of the map, in conjunction with the novel. It may be used for advertising in print and digital mediums, but may not be sold in any form. Should another publisher wish to print a translation of the novel in another language other then English, they must get permission from me, and pay me a reuse fee. The author does not negotiate this, the author simply passes on my contact information.

Should the author sell the rights of the novel to another English publisher, the rights of the map do not transfer. The new English publisher must contact me for licensing rights. The license is nontransferable, basically.

While for life seems like a very long time, really, what else are you going to with the map? This gives the author the ability to reprint the book as many times as they want, or keep it available for print on demand, without having to keep paying me. Which is really fair.

Also, you have the ability to get a reuse fee, if the novel takes off, and it gets translated. However, don't expect that to happen with a self published novel. It could happen, but don't count on it.

[jshoer]

It would be really helpful if there was a page on the Guild that collects together templates for licenses, contracts, and such, with the purpose of each type. We have a great template for asking for commissions, and there's a fair amount of advice on the forum regarding pricing, but some things can be hard to find - and therefore it can be hard to know that, for example, having a license is a good idea.

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk

[tilt]

(late to the party) congrats on the commision - personally I have just put things in plain writing when I have done work for others. And a lot of work I have never even had a contract on - then again it was really needed for for instance some website graphics.

[ladiestorm]

I agree with jshoer, it would be extremely helpful to have some templates listed, so that we could at least have an idea of what we want, and are looking at.

[TimPaul]

Ok, this might ruffle some feathers, but as someone who makes all his income as a freelance artists, I'm going to put this out there.

Start by doing a search. I googled Boilerplate contracts for freelance illustrators, and got a page of links.

And the second one, was this, from the Graphic Artists Guild, a site and group I'm familiar with.

https://graphicartistsguild.org/tool...r-of-agreement


When you do searches first, instead of asking, you have a better chance of finding something close to what you need. When you do searches, you can also find something you may need, or want later, but wouldn't have found if you hadn't.

You also start learning to do for yourself, and being a freelance illustrator, is all about that.

Sharing information is great.

For example, here is a link for running your contracts through, and it analyzes them, to see where you might have issues.

LegalShifter

That link was given to me by copyright lawyer, to help with me writing my own contracts for smaller jobs. Now I pass it on to all of you.

[Midgardsormr]

Thanks for that link, Tim!

[ladiestorm]

Thanks for the links!

No feathers ruffled here , but just so you know, I actually did some searches before I asked here. My searches didn't pan out, which is when I decided to ask the experts . Of course it's quite probable that my keyword search had the wrong key word!