Aysha Tengiz's recent Instagram post candidly discusses her experience with a problematic contract from a well-known magazine. After a period of work drought, she was excited to receive a commission, but upon reviewing the contract, she found it heavily in favor of the client, demanding full ownership of her intellectual property and copyright. She argues that the complex legal language often deters artists from fully understanding their rights, leading to potentially harmful agreements. Tengiz offers advice on deciphering such contracts and emphasizes the importance of knowing one's rights and available resources.
There was just one tiny snag: I read the contract and it sucked.
The company wanted entire copyright and IP (intellectual property) for the work, meaning that they would have full ownership of the characters, ideas, and illustration itself.
This is done so artists won't bother to read the contracts, instead signing away with a shrug of 'how bad can it be'.
Copyright and IP, I think this is a question that baffles many artists, often leading them to sign their works away.
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