(Artwork provided by the wonderful, fun and talented Sara Jane Franklin.)
When you need to have your sink unclogged, there’s little difference in price from plumber to plumber. I think that at one time in the past, the wise plumbers got together and said “let’s all charge the same high price so we all get paid well!”
If only artists could do the same, then pricing would be so much easier!
In the art business, while one creative can garner $10,000 for a painting, another can only get $500 for the same size and medium.
Many artists have a hard time financially because they just don’t know what to charge.
Often, artists will turn down a good opportunity because they are paralyzed by the fear of making a mistake and charging too little.
And when it comes to licensing your art, there are many different ways to be compensated.
Licensing Art means – you retain all copyrights © to an image, and license, or “rent”, the art to someone for either a one-time use, such as in a magazine or advertising campaign, or for a longer term use to print on products, such as a t-shirt line or pottery, greeting cards, etc.
(For more on art licensing: sign up for my FREE ten week series called “ART LICENSING MADE EASY” which teaches how to license your art, negotiate contracts and know what to charge $$$. SIGN UP HERE! )
FEAR THE LICENSE DEAL NO MORE – I promise you that once you begin to understand how these things work, you’ll feel more confident with deal-making.
With confidence comes more deals, and no more lost opportunities. So please, read on!
The most common methods of pay for art licensing are:
1 – ROYALTY: This is where the manufacturer pays the artist a royalty percentage of their gross sales.
2 – ROYALTY WITH ADVANCE UP FRONT – Sometimes there will be an advance payable up front, which is later deducted from future royalties.
3 – FLAT FEE – A one-time fee is paid instead of royalties.
Okay, but how much moola do you ask for?! Below are a few guidelines:
ROYALTY PERCENTAGE PAYMENT:
Before we get to the topic of how much to ask for, let’s make sure you understand how royalties work.
Royalty payments are calculated based on the total (gross) revenues generated by the licensee (manufacturer) for your products.
Red Flag Warning: Never agree to get paid your percentage based on the Licensee’s revenues minus their expenses. This is an impossible number to quantify.
ROYALTY RATE EXAMPLE: Let’s say that you have agreed to license your art to Perry Pickle Manufacturing for t-shirts. They plan to sell the t-shirts to a chain of stores called Racey’s. You have agreed to a royalty rate of 6% with a $3,000 Advance up front.
This means that Perry Pickle Mfg is going to pay you 6% of their total gross revenues generated. Since they agreed to pay a $3,000 Advance up front, they paid you the advance at the time that the contract was signed.
In their first quarter, Perry Pickle Mfg received $100,000 in revenues for t-shirt sales of your line to Racey’s.
That means that you would receive a royalty payment of $6,000.00 ($100,000 x 6% = $6,000.00), MINUS the advance of $3,000.00 up front.
The advance is “recoupable against future royalties” so your first royalty payment would be the $6,000 minus the advance amount of $3,000, and you would have been paid $3,000.00.
Okay, now let’s talk about how you arrived at the 6% royalty rate:
ROYALTY RATES DEPEND ON SEVERAL DIFFERENT FACTORS, THE 3 MOST IMPORTANT:
- The TYPE of product being produced
- The QUANTITIES expected to be sold
- The POPULARITY (STRENGTH) of the artist or brand
THE FIRST FACTOR IN DETERMINING ROYALTY RATES is the type of product being produced. The average royalty rate varies from product to product.
For example, the average rate for art lithographs ranges between 5% – 15%, compared to 3 – 6.5% for wristbands. The average royalty rate is a good starting point for determining what the rate should be.
There are a few resources that will help you learn what the average royalty rates are, such as artists groups and reference books.
To find out what others are being paid, connect with artists who are experienced in licensing through online forums and groups such as Linked In. Ask the members what the average royalty rates are, in their experience, for a particular product. These groups can be very helpful.
THE SECOND FACTOR IN DETERMINING ROYALTY RATES is the expected (or projected) sales volume.
The higher the volume, the lower the royalty: If the products will be sold in mass market retailers and in mass quantity, the royalty rate will be less because mass market retailers (like Wal-Mart, Costco) demand better prices, which means tighter profit margins for the manufacturer.
Usually, an artist will earn more money from a lower royalty rate when products are being sold in mass market, than they would with a higher royalty rate for products being sold in small mom and pop shops.
The lower the volume, the higher the royalty: If the products will be sold in specialty stores and in smaller quantities, the royalty rate should be higher.
For example: A t-shirt manufacturer that sells in mass market stores (Wal-Mart, Target, chain stores) might pay 4-6% royalties. A t-shirt manufacturer that sells in smaller channels such as core skateboard shops might pay 6-10% royalties.
If the artist is well known and their art is a proven seller, the royalty rates would be on the high end of the scale. If the artist is unknown and new to licensing, the royalty rate might be on the lower end of the scale.
In some cases, a licensee that works with artists on a regular basis will have a standard royalty to offer to you. At that time, you can decide if you want to accept their offer, or negotiate for more
FLAT FEE PAYMENT: A flat fee is a lump sum that is paid up front at the time the contract is signed. There are no royalties that will be paid later.
Flat fees may be calculated by image (i.e. $500 per image x 10 images = $5,000); or they may be paid in one specified sum (i.e. $2,500 total).
The flat fee method is best when the licensee is either a small company that does low volume, or is a start-up company that does not have a track record of sales.
The disadvantage to a flat fee royalty is that if the product sells above expectations, you may be missing out on sharing a piece of those revenues.
The best way to protect against the possibility of missing out on a piece of a great selling product is to have a short term, such as a one year or eighteen month contract.
With a shorter contract, if sales are very good, the licensee will want to renew, at which time you will be paid again, or you can negotiate for a better deal.
How much of a flat fee should you ask for? Like all deals, the range is wide. I know of some artists who charge as little as $100 per image for a flat fee license. In the greeting card industry, an artist might be paid a flat fee of $275 – $500 for a card design. I’ve had deals in the action sports market where I charged a flat fee of $1,500 per image, with a price break if they license multiple images.
The flat fee amount that you get will depend upon: 1- the strength of your brand, 2 – the competition in the industry and 3- what the licensee is willing to pay.
The most important thing is that you get paid what you feel that your art is worth and that you are happy with the end result.
ADVANCES: An advance is a dollar amount that an artist is paid up front, due at the time of signing the contract. The advance is usually non-refundable, and is deducted from future royalty payments.
What I love about advances is the most obvious: you receive a payment up front.
Often in licensing deals, you won’t see royalties for a year or more because it takes that long to develop a line, sell it and get it shipped to stores. The advance is money NOW, which is when most of us need it.
I use the advance as an insurance policy should something go wrong. It hedges against the possibility that there will never be royalties paid in the future, because if a company is willing to pay an advance, than that means they are committed fully to the product sales. Without commitment, sales often won’t happen. Sometimes the products never make it to the marketplace or are dropped from the line.
And that means No sales which means No royalties.
The main reason we almost always require an Advance for Drew’s work is that it helps me to weed out the serious people from the not-so-serious.
If a company is willing to pay us an advance, I’m more convinced of their commitment to the success of the product sales.
Red Flag Warning: If the deal you are about to enter into is going to require an excessive amount of work on your end, it’s crucial to require an advance or a design fee to cover your time. That way, you don’t have to wait the 12 months or so that it takes for royalties to generate before you get paid.
Since there is no guarantee that a license will generate any royalties at all, an advance is insurance that you’ll be paid something in the event anything goes wrong.
What could go wrong, you ask?! The client is so excited and they plan to put a lot of effort into the line.
One personal example is when we did a deal with one of the largest toy companies in the U.S. They went bankrupt one month after we gave them the artwork for a kid’s skateboard line. Drew had spent weeks working on it. Thank God we were paid a generous advance so that Drew’s time was covered.
Another time we signed on with a kid’s clothing company. They had their Drew Brophy line ready to go, after weeks of work on our end. Then a new partner came in and changed everything. The line never made it to retail and no royalties were generated. We had been paid an advance up front, so we didn’t lose a month’s worth of work for nothing.
The flip side to all of this is that for every deal that isn’t successful, there’s one that is successful. You have to sign on with many companies because some will be duds and some will be good.
Remember, there are no set-in-stone pricing structures for licensing or for art deals. You have to be creative and come up with a deal that works for you and for your client!
Maria
PS: Read “Beware of these Red Flags in Contracts“ for more food for thought.
Would you like your own licensing agreement template that you can use again and again? My new LICENSING AGREEMENT/CONTRACT TEMPLATE PACKAGE is now available. This package makes it easy for you! Complete with a template that you can change as needed, and instructions, this is the perfect short, simple agreement for artists not yet ready to hire an attorney. More details here: Licensing Agreement Contract/Template
359 Responses
Hello Maria, I am so glad I stumbled on your website. I had been contemplating licensing my artwork for some time. It is a bit scary for me and I really don’t know how to get started. Reading your suggestions have sparked a new light and I feel ready to pursue this avenue to generate an income. I am a decorative artist specializing in Murals and Faux finishes as well as fine art. If this is a way to get my artwork past the canvas and into a larger customer base then I am looking forward to getting started. Thank you for providing such excellent information.
Hi Maria!
I have a question for you:
I have been approached by a company that wants to use one of my paintings to decorate a hotel. They won’t be selling the prints, but hang one in each room.
They ask if I’m willing to license my work. How do I determine the price? There won’t be any royalties… so it would be a flat fee. I just don’t know how much to ask for it 🙁
Many thanks!
Hi Sam, congrats on getting that deal. So, that type of deal is a little different – you should offer to do the printing yourself and charge them wholesale prices. If they want to do the printing themselves, the price would be 30-40% of your retail price. So, I would do this: Ask how many they need, in what size, and on what substrate (paper, canvas, metal, etc.). Then come up with the retail price of that item, and offer it for 30% -40% off, if they are printing. If you are printing, give them a wholesale price.
Hi Maria!
Thank you so much for your reply!
Well, turns out I got it all wrong! The company wants to blow up my works to use as wall covering! They will use it for about 50 rooms in the hotel.
The company specializes in textiles and wall coverings.
They are offering a 7% royalty fee.
From my understanding, I would get 7% off of what they charge the hotel developer or architect for the total cost of covering walls in 50 rooms.
So I guess, I got my answer 🙂
Thanks anyway for taking the time to reply! Much appreciated! 🙂
Hi Maria! We’re in a similar situation.. we have a hotel that is commissioning NEW artwork AND purchasing prints for all of their rooms. Not sure how to charge them… for the price of commission, direct cost of canvas, plus 20% royalty for canvases? It doesn’t seem to make sense to charge them full design for custom work and full wholesale for prints, but feel like we should make something from the reproductions….
Thank you!
Nellie
Hello Maria,
Question, after the first royalty payment is deducted from the advance; will future royalties continue to get deducted?
Hi Maria, So happy to have found you. I am a fairly new artist and find all of the business/legal/marketing side of being an artist a total creativity kill, lol! It seriously makes my head hurt. Last week I reached out to the owner of a small local clothing/homegoods boutique about carrying prints of two of my original pen & ink drawings. She responded asking if I would consider licensing the images of my originals to be printed on shirts (she will handle the printing/purchasing of shirts). Which promptly sent me into a tail spin. I have never sold prints of my work much less licensed my work! I came across your book “Art Money Success” on Amazon and immediately placed my order. So much great information and a HUGE thank you for writing it! I have decided the best option for me is to be paid a fee/% per item. However I have no idea what that fee/% should be. I have asked for input from a large online calligraphy group I belong to, but have had no input as to the amount. The small amount of info I find through google is from a minimum of 5 years ago. The shop owner has offered a set fee per shirt which is equal to 8.6% of retail and still leaves the shop owner in the range of 150% profit per shirt after cost of shirt, printing and licensing fee. The shop owner did say she thinks the shirts will do well, so my prediction is maybe 100-150 shirts. Like I said, it’s a small shop. I want to be fair, but I also have a tendency to “give” my work away. Your input is much appreciated and much needed! TYIA
I’m new to this as well but everything I’ve been reading is 2% to 10% of gross sales of your artwork. If the shop owner is willing to give you 8.6% of retail price (thats gross sales and a good deal) that would leave 91.4% of the retail price for the shop owner. I’m not sure where you get the 150% of profit, there is no such thing in this scenario. Profit can only be over 100% if an item GAINS value somehow. 8.6% is a good deal for a new artist. Get some sales and some experience under your belt. And keep reading!
Hi Maria, I am approached by school board member. They want an image to print 60 copies to give board members and past members. I am not sure how to do that. there will be no sales. but i need to offer liscensing fee in flat rate to them
They will take care of printing. I hope i get a reply in a day. they need artwork image in 3 weeks. that is too soon.
Hi Maria. This is such a useful article, thanks so much! 🙂 I am a street artist and create work that is about shared experiences and often connected to the local community. An agency want to use images of my work to produce postcards and two billboards that provoke conversation around public art in connection with a huge housing development here in London. I will also be running a workshop with residents. I have no idea where to start with pricing the licensing for this as there is no direct income being generated by the company.
Do you have any tips on how I can calculate the licensing fees?
This is amazing! Keep up the good work! It is so informative and useful! Thank you!!!
Hello,
First thank you for all these useful information. Much needed!
A company approached me to create a design for a product once, we agreed on payment and the company did the agreement contract.
When it comes to collaboration like that is that on the hand of the designer to send an agreement or on the hand of the requester to do so?
I’m used to do quote and contract between I and clients for graphic design but when it comes to this kind of art collaboration, I’m not sure who does what.
Hi Maria,
This question is about poster design royalties. I don’t do many design projects besides the few poster commissions each year by the same group of companies/organizations so I’m not very well versed in the ways of collecting royalties. One small business with which I’ve done projects in the last few years had asked again for me to create a poster for their annual charity fundraising event, which I did, and was paid for. Now they’ve emailed saying that they are arranging a sponsorship opportunity with a big company and the company will be printing their own banner but would like to use my poster in the design, and that they need me to write a letter granting permission for its use.
In this case, since the poster is being used as notification about a fundraiser and not for example, being printed on T-shirts to gain a profit, would I still ask for any type of fee or grant permission and simply ask for attribution to remain visible? Thank you!
Hello Maria,
Great article, I wondered if you could give me some advice on this, I regularly make illustration commissions for clients, the artwork is for usually for one time use at an event.
The artwork is custom made for the client, it’s usually about their business, so we don’t resell or use the image again with different customers.
I have a client who wants to use the design we made them for other marketing things, which is great, (she doesn’t know what for yet or for how long) but I’m reluctant to hand over the art files without some kind of licence or terms of use.
They’ve already paid for the artwork and used it at their event but they’ve asked me to send the original artwork files so they can use it in marketing materials in the future. We’ve done this before and the work has been edited and changed without permission.
I don’t know much about licences, it’s tricky when the artwork has already been paid for by the client, we want them to use it again, but want some control on how it’s used, and do we charge more or just agree some terms of use?
We’d love to offer some kind of licence to our customers so they can choose to use the illustration again in the future after they’ve used it for their event.
Thanks so much 🙂
Thanks God I found your article,reading it I know I wasn’t doing it wrong… I am currently working for a moderate successful clothing line, I get 10%,of every shirt sold — prices range from $29.99 to $ 50. I get paid every two weeks from what is sold in those previous weeks.
Hi Maria,
your article was very helpful, thank you! I was wondering if you can advise me on this: I am an artists and I have been approached by a graphic designer who wants to use my work for her invitations and prints. How much royalty should I charge her?
Hi Maria:
An international firm put my painting as a soft copy on a greeting card sent to all her clients over the world. They wrote my name on it . How much should I ask for?
Waiting for your advise, thank you.
Jaida zakaria
Hi Maria, my art is being considered for part of a set design in a major motion picture set to release in Oct ’18. The first movie in the series grossed $150m and this would be the sequel. Right now the production company is asking to usey art for part of the set. This work is typically reserved for subscribers as a free download. Should this type of agreement be negotiated by an attorney?
Jeanette, what did they offer to pay you for use of your work?
I’m in the same situation, but for a tv show that wants prints- they’re asking for my prices and I’m unsure what to tell them. Should I charge them full price or 30-40%?
Hey! So I’ve read though lots of comments trying to find a similar situation to my own. I am a portrait photographer and a few years ago I would trade use of photos with prop vendors (for their websites, etsy, Facebook etc, always with watermark on image) for the props. I just stumbled upon my images (watermark edited out) being used to promote those props on a top backdrop/prop company. I don’t believe the original prop maker I worked with has anything to do with it, more likely the company is Purchasing from a wholesaler that is using stolen images and ripping off the prop design. Why do I do? Are they responsible for the images they use on their website, even if those images were provided from another company they buy from?
Hi Meri! I am not a copyright lawyer – but the company that uses your images is absolutely responsible for adhering to copyright law on every image they use. It doesn’t matter where they get it from or who edited out the watermark. The end user is always responsible for copyright infringement.
Now, if they pay you for the images and feel like the company who provided the images is at fault, it is up to THEM to go after that company….
But yeah, when you do a website, you are responsible for everything you put on there. Not knowing is not an excuse! Good luck to you!
Hi Maria,
I am so happy I found you! This issue comes up repeatedly for me.
A famous person used one of my photos as the basis to paint a painting, then sold it in a gallery for $20K.
We had a brief conversation maybe 6 months ago about licensing before the show was about to open (but after the painting was made) and never came to any conclusion.
Can I still send an invoice for licensing even though the painting has been sold? What is standard in the trade? Based on your article, I am guessing 10% is entirely reasonable for this one-off image.
Hi Tanya,
I think asking for 10% is reasonable. Next time, come to an agreement BEFORE the painting is done! That way there are no surprises. I wish you the best.
Hi, I just joined your email list the other day. I have a question about licensing my art. I’m interested in offering some of my original images as downloadable art print files like many do on Etsy but for personal use only; however, I’m toying with the idea of licensing some of my images for commercial use to individual (entrepreneurs) who want to create t-shirts, notebooks, etc. Is this an idea worth pursuing and how do I go about charging. I want to offer a non-exclusive license for a specified time limit. I thinking out loud right now! Lol
Hi Maria,
this is great info. It was recommended that I contact a furniture store that sells decor including photography prints from local artists. They are very large stores and have a large website. 14 stores in two states. I thought it was an intriguing idea until after a lot of work to find out what they pay, and learned they only pay 3% and you have to give them endless reproduction rights as long as this program is in effect. I found this to be offensive to the profession. I don’t have info on how much or which types of prints they sell, but it would have to be alot to generate an acceptable income. I have contemplated contacting them to see if that is negotiable, but don’t hold much hope for that. Any thoughts on negotiation points (if it matters to them).
Hi Maria,
I’m approaching from the opposite side of the equation that your normal clients are on. I want to license designs from artists to sell on my ecommerce stores.
I’m curious how do I provide these artists with proof of sales so they know they are not getting cheated out of their royalties? I obviously do not want to give them access to my store backend, and an excel export of sales can be easily faked. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
As an artist I really appreciate that you are asking for this information. I’ve often wondered the same thing & don’t want to offend the person I’m working with to check on this. I guess there’s a certain amount of trust between parties.
Hello, I hope you can help me. My 14 yr old daughter has been asked to design by hand graphics for selling t-shirts. The lady has provided her details of what she wants and my daughter has completed one design. Before going further we dont know how much to price the design. Also, who would have copywright authority? The lady because its her idea or my daughter becauae its her design?
Hi
I am a artist that signed a contract with a fine art publisher I have sent 18 scans of my paintings at my cost, not a word from the publisher in the past year and no respone to my emails.
Yet my art is all over the internet, is there a artist group that collects royalties on behalf of the artist.
Gerard
Hi Gerard, not sure where you live, but in California we have the “California Lawyers for the Arts” that can help artists with legal issues, but you need to be a member. Maybe your state has something similar. Hopefully Maria can advise you, but it likely depends on what your agreement states. Good luck!
Hi Maria,
Thank you for providing all this information, especially for newbies like me trying to get into the graphic design market. I have a little question (maybe a dumb one I apologize if so)
When designing for somebody else, for example you working on a design for a customer who owns a business and wants to use your designs. I red about stablishing the royalty fees but…my question is, how can you track how many items this person is selling with your designs? like, by just asking and he saying numbers…doesnt seem so trustable because the business could easily lie to me in order to hide some numbers from me.
Or i just have to trust this person’s word?
Thanks!
Hello!
A composer who publish her own music wants to use my drawing to print it on the front of her song and on its webpage. She is willing to pay a fee. I am professional painter but I don’t have experiences in this kind of collaboration. I would be grateful on your advice.
Hello Maria. Thanks for helping with this issue, we as artists all have to deal with pricing and have little to conpare it to. I get asked for permission to use my work for hotel outfitting and the offer is $3-5 each for 1 to 800 rooms. They only offer flat fee and they handle the printing. Is this a standard rate? I want to work with them but not if they’re raking in the dough and I’m being handed one bagel. Any thoughts in this are appreciated. Thank you.
Dear BP – $3-$5 doesn’t sound right to me.
Typically, even if they are doing the printing, you would charge about 40% of the retail price of the print. For example, if the prints would retail for $80 each – then you would charge them $32 per print, even if they do the printing. If you do the printing, you would charge about $40 per print (wholesale pricing).
My advice above is based on a deal with an art agent or consultant or interior designer.
However, if it’s a licensing deal with a manufacturer, then you would work out a different deal – often 10%-15% of the sale price of the item. But licensing deals tend to be for sales in retail stores, not usage in a hotel.
Hi Maria
Do you know the going rate that a licensing agent charges nowadays to her artists?
Hi Maryjane,
An art licensing agent typically gets between 30-50% of the revenues. This is assuming, of course, that the agent is actively seeking deals and representing the artist at trade shows or by other means.
Hi Maria, thank you for sharing your knowledge. What do you think about certain websites that post a disclaimer that anything uploaded to their site will be used in the future and that by posting one is giving them certain rights to art that is posted?
Hi Maria, Just wondering if you can answer a question about licensing. Ive just received a licensing agreement from a major homewares manufacturer to use my images on their products. They supply high end department stores.
After reading though the agreement, they have offered me 5% of the production cost.
Not as your article says 3-8 % of sales, or wholesale cost.
Is there an industry standard ? is it up to me to negotiate something better for myself ?
many thanks
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
Great question! The 5% should be paid off of their total revenues, not the production cost. There is a huge difference there.
Hi Maria! A national retailer is interested in using my photography to sell as prints in their stores. The deal is through a production company, so I would just be licensing my image and not having to actually produce the product. They’re offering 5% of the net sales. Is this a fair deal? I’m new to the licensing game and just trying to figure it all out 🙂 Would SO appreciate any insight or tips you may have for this type of business deal!!
Hi Bethany,
5% is standard these days for products sold in Mass Market (not for small channels, such as boutiques – for those, you should get more).
Make sure that their contract states that the 5% is off of Net Sales, which is total revenues minus refunds and discounts, etc.
Congrats on your new deal!
PS: Don’t give an Exclusive without $$$ upfront or ability to terminate if there are no sales
PPS: Set up a consulting session with me if you need me to guide you through this!
You are AMAZING!! Thank you so much for your insight – I just wanted to make sure it was a “typical” and fair deal. I’ll definitely set up a consultation setting if I have more questions! Thank you again Maria!!
Hi Maria! I am so happy I found you here. I had a start-up company approach me to illustrate a few designs for them which as per now will be only used to print on T-shirts and they want the full ownership/ rights on those artworks and in the future will also be using it to print on other stationary and home decor products. This will be a one time fee and I really don’t know how much to charge them . It would be really helpful if you could guide me and share any tips on this as I am just starting out .
Hi Maria, I am so glad I come across this article! I’ve been approached by a small local coffeeshop to use my art to be printed on their merchandise (ie. mugs). Should charge for higher royalty (6-10%)? Or would a flat rate fee be more applicable? Thank you much!
Hi Andika,
Thanks for the comment and the question! My answer to your question: For a small coffee shop (not a Starbucks, but a local shop with only one or two locations) the volume will most likely be small, so I would absolutely go with a one-time flat fee for a period of 2 or 3 years. How much $ is up to you – of course, it has to make sense to the client financially. $250-$500 is a good starting point, if they are using existing art. This is assuming they won’t be producing more than 500 mugs. If they are commissioning new art for it, then charge your normal commission fee and add a license fee to that. Hope this helps – let me know how it goes!
Wow that is soo helpful. Thank you very much! I will move forward with your recommendation and let you know how it goes. Have a great weekend! 🙏🏼😊
I signed a licensing contract with a company for 2 years. After a few small paycheck every 3 months I realized the were not giving me the agreed 10% price. They gave me .10% of the wholesale price. That left me with about 5-10 cents per print job of wall art. They sold my work wholesale to another company they represent and then they sold it at a retail price. I have terminated the contract but they are still selling my work through their other company. I won’t trust these large print on demand companies ever again. There is no guarantee that you won’t be taken for a ride down the wrong path unless you can afford a rusting lawyer to investigate you contract and companies you do business with. I had someone steal one of my images and massed produced it for their business. I charged them $1000- for the use and the sold 50,000- in t-shirts with my art on it. It all is about the matter of TRUST!
Hi Maria,
Maybe you can answer my question. If one is getting a % on design sales, how do know exactly how much they sold? In other words, could they be selling 100 and paying you for 50? Is this just trust?
Hi Maria
Thank you for your valuable information. I hope you can assist me with my query.
I have been approached by linen and bedding company who sell direct under their brand as well as supplying to several other well known retailers. They have asked me to create an exclusive painting and to provide them with the graphics to produce a line of quilts, cushions etc. How should I proceed with licensing v’s flate fee AND, does the original painting remain as my copyright and am I able to sell it. (as the company only want images)
Thank you
Jenny
Hi Jenny! To answer your questions: I would offer a deal where there is an up front fee plus royalties. Yes, keep all copyrights and keep the original painting/artwork – all you need to provide is licensing rights and the digital high res image. Make sure you also charge a fee to have the artwork properly scanned, esp if you have to hire a photographer to do it.
I had a question for you and wanted if you had any good advice for me.
I am doing a piece for a company and they are reserving the right to have no prints sold by myself, of their commission piece. In this scenario, do you know the ballpark percentage the price would rise?
Hey Josh, this is a great question! If you are giving up rights to make prints (or anything else) with the art, then typically you would charge 3 times or 4 times the price. This helps you make up for losing future potential earnings from the work. Hope this helps!
Hi there! I can’t tell you how happy I am to have found your website (and I just bought your book!) I am just learning about licensing for my husband’s artwork — his work has won awards and literally made millions for clothing companies (one illustration from 25 years ago is still the first design you see on Liquid Blue’s home page), and sadly he came out of RISD knowing nothing about his rights as an artist.
I have a question that I hope you can answer. My husband did illustrations for a company that went out of business over 20 years ago (freelance, but later on staff – so I know that makes a difference). Years after they closed, the owner gave him his artwork back. Does he have rights to that artwork now that he has it in hand?
Hi Kristen, with regards to your husband’s art that was created for a company who went out of business: If he signed his rights away to the company in a Work for Hire agreement or any agreement where he transferred all rights, OR he created the art as an employee, then they keep all rights. BUT, if he never signed rights over to them in a written agreement and he was an outside contractor/freelancer, then he owns all the art and can do anything he wants with it. If they own the art, then I recommend he contact the former CEO/President/Owner and see if they will sign the rights back over to him. Seek legal assistance to help with this process. I wish you the best!
Your book is arriving next week – I can’t wait to read it. Here’s a straight up question on numbers as I iron out my first licensing deal. This is for a boutique fashion company in NYC that is popular with hip hop artists. I’m creating a painting specifically for these guys to use (but I’ll be keeping the copyright – so a one year license is in the works). The painting is extremely time intensive (will take about 6 weeks).
They sell their items for 50 & 75 wholesale to luxury stores and then 130 & 250 retail on their website. The run is very small. They will only make 100 – 500 pieces in all (a combination of both items).
What percentage can I reasonably ask for here? My work has won design awards and has been printed before, and (as I said) it’s also a time-intensive piece. I was thinking 15% and requiring a minimum of 200 pieces and then 12% if they make 4-500 pieces.
Do you charge a different percentage for wholesale and retail, if they are selling it themselves online? I actually really want to do this job, so I don’t want to scare them off, but I also need to be compensated. I hope you can help.
Werner,
Thanks for the comment/question. I think your request for 15% for such a small run is reasonable. If they sell out and you are paid 15% it’s still a small amount of money for 6 weeks of work – but – it sounds important to you, and if so then do it. They should accept your offer – it’s very reasonable for the amount of work you are putting into it. Keep me posted on how it goes!
Hello , a hotel in nyc wants to replicate a neon sign of my past business in New York to hang in there lobby , what would be a reasonable flat fee to ask . Thanks
Hi John – typically for hotels and hospitals, you would charge about 40% of the retail price for artwork. Is it safe to assume that you don’t sell prints of your sign? If that’s the case, then a one-time license fee of anywhere from $2,500 to $30,000 would do (and even more, if the image is iconic). The range is huge, but that’s because the details of the company, the usage, the value that you provide, etc. all comes into play.
What about working with art consultant agencies, where they’re doing all the printing and dealing with the hotels? An agency is offering me $50 per print, with 20 prints. She doesn’t mention size, but she previously contacted me (I think for the same job) and offered $250 for one large print.
Another company I’ve worked with let me set the prices per square inch. Furthermore, for this inquiry she’s talking about printing on clear acrylic and/or laser cut-outs for dimension.
I can’t find any pricing info for this realm online, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Hello Maria, I have been approached by an agency to do a series of illustrations for a well-known brand. They will be used on their packaging.
I have been asked to be mindful of costing my artwork based on unlimited time – no expiration in rights and unlimited multimedia usage. Also to be mindful if there would a cost difference in using the illustrations in only one country or using them globally. Do you have any suggestions on what to add to my costs to cover these usage rights? I appreciate your time, and how you are very helpful to other artists. Thanks
Hey Anne,
Thanks for the question. The answer depends on many different factors: how big is the company, how many units will they sell, how many different products will use your art on the packaging? Why would they need a never-ending license? These are great questions to find out the answer to. For most BIG brands, packaging deals can pay very well, sometimes in the six figures! But it really comes down to the details. If you want specific help with this, I would need more info and we should set up a consulting session. Go to my page to follow instructions on how to set up: https://www.mariabrophy.com/work
Hi Maria
Love your site! I licensed 30 designs to a home decor company for 2 years at a flat fee. They have produced fabric, bedding and furniture with my designs. I’m wondering a) what normally happens after the 2 year period is up? b) if the company wants to continue to sell their products with my designs on it after 2 year period would I charge the same $ amount as original deal to extend the contract 2 more years ? c) what is the typical time you allow a company to “sell off stock” with your art after the 2 year contract is up before you charge them again. Sadly this information was not spelled out in the original contract with them so I’m now trying to play catch up with them. Thanks for any help you can offer!
Hi Katja,
To answer your Q’s: After the term of the license is over, there is typically a “SELL OFF” period specified in the contract. Most contacts give 30-90 days for the manufacturer to sell off PREVIOUSLY produced products. They have to continue to make royalty payments after the contact terminates. They cannot continue to sell after the SELL OFF period, but if they do, they owe you royalties (or you can sue for more, damages, etc. if you want).
If you decide to extend the contact, or renew it, now is the time to ask for either a higher % or an advance and a %. You can re-negotiate the new terms, which usually works in your favor.
Hope this helps!
p.s. to my last comment. I just looked again and I actually did put a a clause in the contract saying after end of contract term, they have 6 months to continue to sell off the product in their inventory. They are now way over the 6 months. So would I calculate a retroactive monthly fee to charge them at this point? thanks again. Katja
Hey there! So I’m definitely getting your book! This one article has been extremely helpful!!! So I’m an watercolor artist and I have many people coming to be for different projects and ideas for me. I have a local women’s group that is creating a cookbook and they want my art of the front throughout the book and on the back. I have a price for the actual artwork but am not sure how i should do royalties. They are planning on using my artwork for kitchen towels, plates, bags, shirts, etc. It is a smaller mom and pop kind of deal but wasn’t sure what would be the best pricing for royalties. Any suggestions???
hello,
i’m sooo glad i found this blog post. it helped tremendously in understanding the concept! thank you so much and i subscribed to everything you have in your website, hehe <3 .. i'm so glad i found you through pinterest!
i have a question though, and i'm so glad to see that you still reply to comments on this blogpost!
if i was approached by a coffee shop (small company) and they want to use my watercolor art/design for their paper coffee cups, which means a flat fee, do you think its better to sell them the right of the art for their cups? or license them to use it for their cups for a certain amount of time (a year or two for example)?
and what price do you think is a good price for each options?
thank you <3
Thanks for the question! I think it’s best to sell limited rights for a short period of time (2-3 years) – keep your copyrights and ownership of the art. Since they are a small coffee shop I would charge a one-time fee for the limited license. When the license expires, you could offer a renewal for another fee. Good luck!
Hi Maria,
What an amazing resource your site is – thank you! My question concerns how much to charge when your design is used without your authorisation. I’ve been working with a manufacturer for 15 years producing my work onto ceramics & recently saw my design on TV in a different colour & on a different shaped plate. My factory had produced for the BBC without my permission 🙁 . I’ve tried to resolve things directly but they’ve ignored me!
I’ve found it’s going to be extremely expensive to set up with a new factory so I feel I do need to seek some damages to reflect the upset & cost to my business.
How would I work out what fee to charge in that circumstance?
Hi Maria,
Your article is very much fact based and very trustworthy. I’m offered for my artwork by local government for the followings.
1) to purchase the artwork
2) to reuse the artwork for website, flyer, poster for the art show organized by the government
I must determine how much I should charge for the #2. I think the only way to calculate it out is to multiply the price of the artwork, but I don’t know how many times are proper. I’d appreciate your idea on this.
FYI, the retail price of the artwork is $15,000.
Hello Maria, Thank you for writing this interesting article.
My question below is in regards to having art printed on t-shirts, mugs, etc.
As a creator of art, do I charge clients for a ‘Royalty License’ (based on the price of the image they want), or do they get the license for free seeing that they will be paying me royalties based on the total revenues generated by the manufacturer (client)?
All in all, should any of my images or licenses on my website that I would like to gain royalties from, have my own prices on them or should they be without prices?
Thank you
Hello, en etsy seller wants to buy rights (flat fee) for my illustrations to sell them as tattoes. She has 13 500 followers on instagram and 55 000 sold items on etsy. How much do you think I should ask?
Great article! I was curious if there was any advice after signing. What should an artist expect to see on a royalty statement? What should be included as transparency. Is this negotiated in the contract as well?
Kim, great question! The contract should require HOW the royalty reports are presented. For example, in my license agreements, it states that royalty reports must list the retailer names and break it down by each item SKU sold. This is good to know because you want to know WHERE your products are being sold and you want to know which images of yours are the top sellers.
Thanks for sharing this info, your post has been super helpful!
A client provided a sketch and I created artwork based on that sketch (not just a trace of the sketch) to go on a hoodie. There was no contract/agreement prior to beginning the work. Celebrities/influencers wore the hoodie and the hoodie sales were going well. Moreover, some online stores have copied the design and the client’s attorney sent cease and desist letters to infringers. The client has filed a trademark application for the artwork. A few weeks later the client sent me a work-for-hire agreement filled with many of your red flags (exclusive, worldwide, transfer of rights). Are we co-owners? In this case, can I offer the client a license/royalty agreement?
Hi Maria,
Thank you for all the great info here! Can you suggest what should be charged for the use of artwork that has already been created for use in a calendar? New pieces are needed as well. Should it be a percentage of the price for new pieces? The calendar would only be reproduced in one country and it is for a large company that has a plant identification App. Many thanks,
Karen