The conversation that revolves around work for hire is one that I repeatedly have with my clients. I do not do work for hire work at my normal prices. Why? There is no need to, since I give generous licensing rights to my clients to reproduce the work I create for them, for the purposes that they set up with me from the beginning. However, if you are serious about wanting work for hire, please read the articles contained in the links below, and be prepared to pay a much higher price.
Many people think that work for hire simply means what it appears to say on the surface, which is, “I hired you to do my work, therefore, I own it.”
In a nutshell, the legal definition does NOT mean that – fully. It means that the client is considered the author and creator of the work and can do whatever they want to do – stripping me, the artist of all rights.
In order to keep my prices reasonable and to stay in business, I keep all copyrights of the work I create. Various resources that address this issue are as follows:
DEFINITION
- US Copyright Office
- Wikipedia
- Works Made for Hire under the 1976 Copyright Act
TO THE DESIGNER
- Stop Work For Hire
- Graphic Artists Guild
- Jim Keefe
If you’d like to know more about legal terms surrounding artwork and graphic work, here’s a direct link to the Graphic Artist’s Guild for their CONTRACT GLOSSARY.