Artists create lenghty Terms of Service documents. It's time to create Terms of Being Serviced too.
Not that there were many problems before, but there were enough to warrant creating this list. I'll add more points if I forget something. ____________________
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.
1.1. Negotiation
1.1.1. If the creator does not agree to any of the terms, the terms MAY be negotiated on case-by-case basis. 1.1.2. The commissioner MAY pay up front.
2.1. Delivery
2.1.1. If producing the commission is going to take more than 1 month, the creator MUST provide the deadline (and expected delivery date if deadline is estimated pessimistically). 2.1.2. If producing the commission is delayed beyond the agreed deadline, the creator MUST provide information on the deadline changes. 2.1.3. If producing the commission is delayed beyond the agreed deadline for more than 1 month, the commissioner MAY request a refund.
2.2. Delivery (art)
2.2.1. Rough pose sketch of art commission SHOULD be provided before progressing further (sketch commissions are an exception). 2.2.2. Digital art commissions MUST be provided in original resolution (without downscaling) in lossless image format (PNG, TIFF). Original format with layers (PSD, AI) is RECOMMENDED. 2.2.3. Real-media art commissions MUST be scanned in high resolution (300 DPI) and delivered digitally. 2.2.4. Real-media art commissions MUST be delivered via mail. Tracking and protection with hard cardboard are REQUIRED.
2.3. Delivery (stories)
2.3.1. Story commissions MUST be provided in any widely supported text format which supports editing (TXT, RTF, DOC, DOCX, ODT). Print-only and view-only formats (PDF, XPS) are not accepted.
3.1. Rights
3.1.1. The creator MAY publish the commission in any form on any website or any other media. 3.1.2. The creator MAY make profit from the commission in any way, including but to limited to: selling digitally, selling prints, selling merchandise, including on art CDs, publishing on Patreon etc. 3.1.3. The creator MAY modify the commission in any way, including but not limited to: recoloring, changing characters etc. 3.1.4. The commissioner MUST link to the creator when publishing the commission, unless the creator wishes to remain anonymous, in which case the commissioner MUST NOT link to the creator.
3.2. Rights (art)
3.2.1. The commissioner MAY publish art commission, its work-in-progress and alternative versions, if any, in original resolution in their gallery, or any other website with free access, unless explicitly disallowed by the creator, in which case the commission and all versions MAY be shared in web resolution. 3.2.2. The commissioner MAY share art commission in original resolution privately with their friends. 3.2.3. The commissioner MAY color sketch or ink commission themselves. 3.2.4. The commissioner MAY crop and resize the commission for use in other media, including but not limited to: avatars, desktop wallpapers, Twitter banners, prints for private use. 3.2.5. The commissioner MAY toggle layers in PSD to generate alternative versions, including but not limited to: disable background, remove speech bubbles or some other detail if it was designed with alternative versions in mind.
3.3. Rights (stories)
3.3.1. The commissioner MAY publish story commission in any format in their gallery, or any other website with free access. 3.3.2. The commissioner MAY reuse and remix the story commission without heavily modifying original text, including but not limited to: fixing typos, translating into another language, adding illustrations.
Definitions
* Web resolution: bounded by the most popular screen resolution, according to Steam statistics (1920x1080 at the time of writing) in any orientation. Higher resolution may be required for extreme cases like very long comics.
Maybe include a clause for personal agreements outside of these points. For example, if there was an agreement that commissioned art can be posted in original resolution. (Like I always do).
Maybe include a clause for personal agreements outside of these points. For example, if there was an
Oh wow, Artists are gonna turn into lawyers at this rate. I like clear sets of rules. But man if every piece of art had their own amended rules that both sides have to read before even agreeing. No one, likes reading legal documents is what I'm saying in long form.
Oh wow, Artists are gonna turn into lawyers at this rate. I like clear sets of rules. But man if ev
