Recently I gave a lecture called ART LICENSING 101 on how artists can EARN MONEY OFF OF ONE DESIGN OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
I was surprised when large numbers of artists starting filing into the room. We had a FULL HOUSE! That tells me that the idea of licensing your art is catching on, and that the information is badly needed.
Since many of my readers wanted to attend, but are too far away, I’m posting this brief recap, and at the urging of the participants at the lecture, I’m also posting the slide show that I used.
*Note: I removed one of the slides that I’m not ready to show yet to the world. It was the slide that listed our art licensing income for the past 10 years! To see that, you’ll have to attend my next lecture. 🙂
ART LICENSING 101 RECAP:
I’m not going to go into all the details here, because it would take a book to share what I covered. Instead, I encourage you to take my next class or lecture for all the info. Here I will share links and some of the main points:
WHAT IS LICENSING: How is it that Drew Brophy is paid for his painting titled SUNRISE to be printed on skateboards, car seat covers, art prints, t-shirts, screensavers and electronic skins, by over a dozen companies? It’s called licensing.
In addition to the licensing royalties that Drew will receive throughout his lifetime on that one image, he was also paid for the original SUNRISE painting when it was sold through McKibben Studios in Laguna Beach three years ago.
You, too, can earn multiple streams of income from your artwork. Go to my youtube video called ART LICENSING BASICS where I show some of the products licensed from Drew Brophy’s SUNRISE.
If you haven’t heard the term licensing, don’t let it scare you.
Licensing is when an artist grants temporary rights for a company to use one or more of their images on their products, in exchange for royalty payments. You can earn money over and over again off of the same images by licensing them to different types of companies at the same time.
*Licensing can be a great additional stream of income to supplement your original art sales and/or gallery income.
HOW MUCH MONEY CAN YOU MAKE? We’ve earned a good living from licensing, and you can too. It can take quite a few years to make it happen, though. Ten years ago we earned all of $5,000 in one year of licensing. So far in the first 6 months of 2010, we’ve earned about $150,000. This doesn’t include our original art sales, commissioned works or internet sales. Some artists literally earn millions a year from licensing, such as Thomas Kinkaide and Mary Engelbreit.
HOW MUCH MONEY OR ROYALTIES SHOULD YOU ASK FOR: There are many resources that answer this question. In my radio interview on Art Heroes Radio, I go into great detail on this topic. Listen by clicking on the link. Also, read LICENSING YOUR ART TO A SKATEBOARD COMPANY (OR ANY COMPANY) for details on what to charge.
COPYRIGHTS: It seems as though this is always a concern that causes confusion for people. In the slide show below, there are details about the copyright laws. For more information, go to the informative copyright.gov site. It’s very user-friendly.
Please know that as a freelance artist, YOU OWN YOUR COPYRIGHT (unless you sign your rights away – don’t do that), and you are in control of what happens to your art. Your contract should state that you have the right to approve all products before they are produced with your art on them. Read this post to learn Why I Never Worry About Having To Sue A Client.
PROTECTION OF ART: You’ll always have someone “steal” or infringe on your art, if it’s good enough. Stop worrying about that and just make sure you copyright the art that you’ll be licensing or putting out into the world.
YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR ART: If you own the copyrights to your art, than you and (and only you) get to decide where your art will be sold, the quality of the products it ends up on, and how it’s represented. You have to first determine your strategy. Do you want to go the Ed Hardy route, where your art is sold on trinkets in gas stations? Or do you want it only on high-quality items sold in specialty boutiques and upper end department stores? It’s your decision.
HOW TO QUALIFY A MANUFACTURER: Not sure if a company will do your art right? Here’s a list of Ten Questions to Ask a potential licensee (a manufacturer).
Other Questions that I didn’t get to answer during the lecture but I’m answering now:
HOW DO YOU DETERMINE WHAT SHOWS TO DO TO BE COST EFFECTIVE IN THE LONG RUN? You have to write down all of your possible expenses, and what you think you’ll sell. Ask the galleries to assist in your upfront costs such as shipping and framing. Some will be happy to help if you ask. Here’s a post on how you can determine your profit vs. expenses before doing a show.
HOW TO MARKET MY PAINTINGS? WHAT KIND OF PAINTING IS MARKETABLE? This is another topic that I could write a book on to answer! I’ll take the easy way out right now and give you some great resources online that will help.
I highly recommend reading everything you can about art marketing. You can start with Alyson Stanfield’s I’D RATHER BE IN THE STUDIO book. She covers everything from building your collector base to newsletters to how to properly present yourself. (I bought this book last year and liked it so much that I’ve signed up to be an affiliate.)
ONCE YOU DEVELOP A BODY OF WORK, WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP? AND WHAT TIPS DO YOU HAVE WHILE CREATING YOUR BODY OF WORK? You want to create a list of potential licensees (the companies that license from you). First, check their website for their submission guidelines. If guidelines aren’t listed, then find out the name of the right contact person (licensing manager, art director, CEO) send a letter and a sample sheet of 8-10 images of a particular theme to get their interest. You may contact a company 5 or more times before they respond. Don’t take it personally!
A postcard mailer every 3 months to your list of potential licensees is a great way to always be in front of them, too. Snail mail is an effective way to get your art in front of the right person. (The postcard should have your art on the front.)
TIPS ON CREATING A BODY OF WORK: There is no better description than the one I found here on 10 Secrets to Success on Art Licensing at Porterfield’s Fine Art website. Please, read this!
A few bog resources on Art Licensing:
These are all blogs that I follow regularly for more information on art licensing: Artist Tara Reed’s Art Licensing Blog – Joan Beiringer’s Blog – All Art Licensing with expert J’net Smith, and of course, sign up for my e-mail blog feeds here so that you don’t miss any new information that I write up.
I hope this has all been helpful. Here’s a link to the slide show I promised my last lecture participants:
PS: To gain an understanding of Art Licensing Contracts, what to charge, how to protect yourself in a deal, and so much more: Check out my e-Book, co-written with artist Tara Reed, called How to Understand Art Licensing Contracts.
30 Responses
Maria, I really did enjoy your blog. I did not know you had one. I am very impressed with the lectures that you are teaching. I am taking a two day workshop in the fall with Alyson Stanfield on how to sell and promote my art work at Amelia Island. I can’t wait. Sells are picking up in the Jax. area. Thanks goodness!
Beth, thanks so much for taking the time to write a comment! And for the kinds words. Let us know how Alyson’s workshop goes for you. I follow her blogs and read her books and one day will take her workshop as well. She’s one of the best out there!
Hello my name is Ronald I am a surf artist of Venezuela.. Maria is exelente your help a question that you think of ARTSPROJEKT
Thanks Maria for the great recap – wish I could have attended – hope to attend something of yours soon as I’m in north San Diego county. Thanks again for the generosity for sharing what you know. Most appreciated.
Great insight as always Maria.
Still confused: I copy and pasted 2 of your paragraphs. The first says “you own the copyright.” Are you talking about an automatic copyright?
If so, why does the second paragraph advise that all art is “copyrighted?” Are you talking about putting a © on the pieces…putting that in the file info- or are you talking about the gov registered practice that takes money?
Cheers,
Jane
Please know that as a freelance artist, YOU OWN YOUR COPYRIGHT (unless you sign your rights away – don’t do that), and you are in control of what happens to your art. Your contract should state that you have the right to approve all products before they are produced with your art on them. Read this post to learn Why I Never Worry About Having To Sue A Client.
PROTECTION OF ART: You’ll always have someone “steal” or infringe on your art, if it’s good enough. Stop worrying about that and just make sure you copyright the art that you’ll be licensing or putting out into the world.
Jane, thanks for the question and sorry for the confusion.
1 – Yes, you automatically own the copyrights to your artwork at the time you create it, even if you don’t file the copyright through the government’s copyright office. It’s yours. (Exception is if you created it for an employer, they own it.)
2 – I should have written “Make sure you FILE a copyright for the artwork that you’ll be licensing…” You can file your copyrights easily through http://www.copyright.gov .
You don’t have to file a copyright because you own the rights to it when you create it, but I recommend that you file copyrights because you will fare better in a court case if you do.
I hope this clears it up. If not, let me know!
Thanks for info Maria. The lecture would be a great as a ebook!
Hi Maria!
Great info!!
Jimmy C’s wife Dena here:)
As you and Drew know Jimmy and his work….AMAZING!!!!
Jimmy Painted 900 Guitars for Fender last year. ALL SOLD WITHIN 2 HOURS OF HITTING THE WEB!!!!!!…………OMG.THE GRAVY TRAIN JOB….making us TONS OF $$$$!!!! Making Fender..MILLIONS!!!..HOWEVER…………..NO CONTRACT?????
AHHHHHH!!!! Companies LOVE THAT and it happens over & over with his work??? i am a Buisness woman / Owner for over 16 years and know the importance of what you are saying here.
Jimmy has Sketez that would BLOW ANY T-SHIT COMPANY (ANY CO. FOR THAT MATTER) AWAY!!!!?? I mean dozens and dozens!!!
Absolutly unbelievable!!!
I own a Hair Salon as you both know and work ALL the time and simply do not have the time to manage his doings ,contracts,etc. He tells me AFTER THE FACT…AHHHRRRRRR:)
His work could be all over the world however I am not a good match to Manage/Rep him! HE TELLS ME HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING???
Just last week a Gallery on Del Mar in San Clemente owed him $500.00 (ITS THE PRINCIPLE) for some Artwork he had done for them for a few months!
He did not want to BOTHER them……..WHAT THE???AHHHHH!!!!
SOOO……..It is just opening and has paper covering the front windoww………..After numerous calls to them from Jimmy I went down there and wrote ALL OVER THE FRONT WINDOW IN BLACK MAJIC MARKER……JIMMY C. DOES NOT WORK FOR FREE PLEASE CALL ,TAPED HIS BIZ CARD ON THE WINDOW..within hours the check was delivered to him??? He needs a REP…..BADLY!!!!!!!
I cannot do it as I am so busy with my own biz.?Any suggestions as who might be a goog Rep for him??????His work WILL GO RICTOR WITH THE RIGHT REP!!!!!!
Thanks for any suggestions you may have for us:)
Thanks Maria!
Dena:)
XO
Dena, wow, thanks for the comment!
It is HILARIOUS that you went down to the store front and wrote on the window to get them to pay their debts! I’m so glad you did that!
As far as finding a rep: It’s the most asked question I get, and it’s hard to get a rep because often there’s not enough money in the beginning for a rep to earn, and so many reps charge a monthly fee, which most artists don’t want to pay, for obvious reasons.
But, if Jimmy ever needs help putting together a contract, license, or proposal, I can help. Go to https://www.mariabrophy.com/consulting for details on how I work.
Thanks for finding me online, Dena! We’ll all have to get together for wine sometime!
Hi, please give me a suggestin. A new restaurant in US wants to print my original art 19″x25″ at a size of 4ft x 4ft, 12 paintings one print of each for restaurant decor. I do not even know where to start to came up with an estimate for the cost of their use of my art. Please help
Cristi,
Thanks for the question. First, who’s doing the printing of the art – you or the restaurant? It would be best for you to handle printing on your end, because you don’t want to be handing art files over to someone as they could make more prints than you are aware of. It’s important to always have complete control over your artwork.
With you doing the printing, get price quotes from a printer and then take your cost and multiply by 3x. For example: If your cost is $300 to reproduce a print to that size, charge the customer $900 per print. This is one way to do it.
Also, make sure that you get a 50% deposit BEFORE getting the prints made. Require final payment upon delivery. Be sure to add sales tax and delivery fees as well.
I hope this was helpful!
You talk about checking out licensing companies but how do you find them? AND, how do you know about their reputation? While most of see these products over and over, the manufacturer and the licensor are not always the same. Is it better to go with a company that has control of the manufacturing or are the folks who are selling the artwork to other manufacturers also viable markets?
Thanks!
Lisa
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