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Health & Fitness

A Little Something About Ownership

Clearing up the question about ownership of artwork. When does ownership change hands and and artists rights for retaining copyright.

The great debate of who owns the artwork can be summed up this way...  

Ownership changes hands when payment in full is received. Until a piece is paid for in full, the artist who created the work, retains ownership, and can reclaim the work at any time. Reproductions of the work, however, are only owned by the creator of the work, not the owner. 

Confused? Don't be...

This means whoever buys your stuff does not have the right to mass produce cups, cards, T-shirts, and posters. If they do, you can serve them with a cease and desist notice, and any proceeds from the reproducing of your work belongs to you, not them, because you own the copyright, even if you sell the piece. 

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A copyright of your work is in effect when you complete your piece. Proof of copyright for court purposes, however, needs to be certified. You can file for a copyright after you find someone knocking off your work, it's just a little more problematic to go through the process. You can also copyright bodies of work rather than individual pieces. Personally, I would save the $35 to copyright until you had an issue and had to have physical proof. 

You should also document all your work by keeping a file of digital photos on your computer. Time stamps do not lie. 

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When you sell a piece outright, you can put an addendum on the bottom of your invoice that states, 'customer must make every effort to comply should artist request that piece be available for show'. That means they don't have to show it, and truth is, if it's fragile and could damage easily then it shouldn't show, but it does mean they will try and comply if it suits their schedule, and it puts them on point that should the situation arise, they may be asked. 

Consigning your work to a gallery, or show, means you need to comply with the contract you negotiate AND SIGN. If you do not pick up your work on said date, you will relinquish your ownership. The copyright, and right to reproduce the work is yours.

I have a very dear friend that is an international artist who goes by the rule of when something sells, go paint another. The image is yours to reproduce. You can produce multiple versions of the exact same work, and each is original and unique. Everytime you do it, something will be different. I wouldn't suggest getting fixated on one image, and filling your studio with the same thing over and over again, but the point is, you can make another piece of the same image and sell it for yet more profit. If it is a great image, you will want to. And you can do this because you are the creator. NOT the owner of the sold image though. They can't reproduce it to sell it because they do not own the copyright. YOU DO! 

Clear? Good. Here is your no-brainer list for the day:

1) Comply with contracts.

2) Write dates down transition dates for galleries and shows on your calendar.

3) Document your own work digitally and keep a file on a thumbdrive

4) Own what you do, both physically and mentally. 

Now go have some fun and create something...! ~k

More of Karen's alwayssomethingtosayaboutsomething blog can be found at: http://karenshellygenther.wordpress.com

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