Aa web site wants to use one of my paintings on their home page. Where can I find information on a licensing agreement and how much of a fee should I request? I'm a local artist and sell my paintings for a modest fee and an attorney would be an excessive expense.
So far I've been unable to find anything about this subject online.
Check out this book "Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines" (Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines) by Graphic Artists Guild. It holds the answers to how much artwork is worth on the open market. It is updated yearly.
Posts: 3 | Location: San Angelo, Texas | Registered: May 08, 2008
Even if you sell the painting to a client, the client must still contact you for permission for each instance of usage, unless you are turning over your copyright in the work (which you should never do). When you sell a painting, you still retain all reproduction rights. The purchaser only has the right to display the painting and non-commercial photography for private use, such as a photo of the room the painting is in.
What type of website is it? As long as they credit you as the artist and link back to your website if you have one, can you consider it free publicity? Have them link the image back to your website and include a text link, with copyright notice and credit. Free publicity is hard to get.
Are they incorporating it into the design, or is it just a photo on the page? If they're incorporating it into the design, you may wish to treat it like a rights-managed image and give them the license to use it for one year. For info on rights-managed images, or examples of usage, see any stock photography site like Getty or Masterfile, and search for an image and get an example of pricing. Specify in your contract that the image should not be distorted or manipulated from the original, and you could even ask to approve the design before it is publicly used.
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