Above retro graphic nicked from the C02 blog.
My friend, the veteran cartoonist Jim Keefe, talks about "work for hire."
Work for hire means that you (the artist) are hired to work on a property (let's say, Superman) that is owned by the client. You are paid for your work, but then that work is now owned by the client. Usually, the client can then use and reuse the work, in all forms, known and unknown, without further compensation to you.
The professional organization, the Graphic Artists Guild, is "unalterably opposed to work for hire contracts."
But in the real world, work for hire is a fact of life. Joe Kubert told Jim to go in with your eyes open. Tom Richmond adds "... sometimes in the real world a WFH agreement is a necessary evil."
Take a look at Jim's write up and click on some of the links. Find out why professionals like Stephen Bissette and James Sturm are boycotting Marvel Comics.
This must be a hard deal for some artists to make because of the personal connection they feel to their work. In many ways its like asking somebody to give up rights to their child.
ReplyDeleteDon't beleve in WFH. Never do it, never willi
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