I’ve just had a client come in with 4 original paintings done by her mother. The paintings were involved in a family dispute and somehow were handed over to this person so she could have the works copied and make copies for other family members. I would love to show you the images because they were absolutely gorgeous portraits of girls with dogs and landscapes. The originals were over 70 years old and not in very good condition but that wasn’t what was important to the family. It was that these were Mum’s paintings and they were going to lose them forever!

As a typical artist, I imagine you’ve painted hundreds or thousands of artworks. Again, like most artists, you’ve sold pretty much everything and made your fortune, haven’t you? If this is you, then this post won’t interest you, just go off somewhere and figure out how you’re going to spend all that cash!

If you’re still reading then you must be one of those very few artists that don’t sell everything they produce right? If that’s the case, have you thought about what’s going to happen with all your art when, well, you know, it’s all over?

What would you like your family to do with your art when you’re gone? What value will your art hold with family members? Who gets what? Who doesn’t get anything? Well that all depends on how you document it and prepare now.

I would suggest that the first place to start is to do a stocktake of your creations. If you already have a catalogue system in place then this will be pretty easy. Make sure someone else knows about and can find and understand your system. No good having a complicated system with codes only you can understand, and having it hidden away where nobody can find it! Share it with those that will need to know.

I’ve spoken about recording your art recently. I don’t believe I’ve seen anything in any software package that talks about Estate Planning, which is what we are talking about here. You can probably add categories to some of them that should help sort out the problem.

Anyway, here’s a few ideas on preparing for the inevitable…

Sign it! Make sure all your originals are signed, even if you don’t like them all that much and may have even considered painting over them or throwing them out. They will be worth more signed than being attributed to that great painter A. Nonymous.

Title It! Give it a name and in your catalogue system, give it a description to make it easier for others to find.

Explain it! Have you ever looked at a painting and wondered what the hell the artist was thinking? Leave some clues. Tell the story behind the painting.

Price it! Give it a value from your perspective so that others have a guide as to what it might be worth to a collector. The person handling your estate may have no clue about your contribution to society as an artist and how your works might be valued. This could make a big difference to what’s left to share around the kids.

Well that covers most of the art stuff, now, what about you?

Is your biography up to date? Go through what you already have, fill in any gaps. Again, tell the story from your perspective. Nobody can tell your story as well as you. These days, there are some exciting ways to record your own personal information. The old fashioned way is to write it in a book, you can get creative on a blog, create your own ebook, write a simple word document or go all out and create a video of yourself talking about your art history as part of your legacy.

Think the video thing is a bit vain? Get over it, think what it would be worth to your kids if nobody else.

A few other points…

* Be sure you have a list of where your art is displayed so the family or executor can find it.

* Never assume people will know what to do with your art, leave clear instructions.

* Talk about all of this before its too late – let others ask questions so they understand your wishes.

If everything is clearly documented and explained, it will prevent infighting, arguments, legal disputes over who controls what, like the situation that instigated this post. Take charge now and control of your life’s work.

Can you remember the name and details of every piece of art you’ve ever painted, every client who’s ever bought work from you, every piece you’ve donated, every competition you’ve entered and gallery you’ve left work with? Is all this information in your head or written down somewhere?

If it’s in your head, you’d better pray nothing happens to you! Keeping written records is important for so many good business reasons but in a worse case scenario, something happens to you, it could make life easier for someone else to sort things out. “How” you keep those records not as important as “Why” you keep them. The ‘how’ can be as simple or as complicated as you want.

If you haven’t yet jumped completely into the digital age, then it could be a box of 7″ x 5″ index cards. With all the systems available digitally though it just makes sense to use one of them. It could be a simple Excel Spreadsheet, a custom designed software package or something in between like Evernote? Experiment until you find what works for you.

Why should you keep records?

• Keep a history of your work in chronological order for posterity
• Keep track of original sales
• Keep a record of your clients – who bought what
• Keep a record of reproductions sales and edition numbers
• Keep track of which gallery has your work and what they’ve sold for you
• Keep track of work entered in exhibitions and art fairs
• Keep your insurance company happy with an organised list of your work.
• Whatever other reason you can think of that’s important to you.

If you’ve been painting for a while, and you’re not the organised type, you would know that it’s pretty easy to lose track of pieces. You send something off to a gallery and forget about it until one day someone tells you that gallery closed down and you suddenly think “didn’t I have something with them?” but you can’t remember what.

Every business needs systems – systems make life easier. Yes I know you creative types don’t have time for the logical and tedious work required to set up a system and maintain it but to operate a successful art business, you MUST!

So, what system will work for you. There are all sorts of software packages out there now designed for keeping records of art – I’ve listed a few below.

http://www.xanadugallery.com/arttracker/

http://www.artscope.net/eArtist/

http://www.arawak.com.au/flick.html

http://www.evernote.com

The first three on the list are all paid software systems and they offer free trials so if you aren’t using anything now, download them and give them a go. OK, these are all designed by Americans but can be used by Aussies as well.

As you know, I’m not an artist but I use Evernote to keep a lot of my records – in fact if you are a client of Art House Reproductions, I have notes about you in my “Clients”  folder. The thing I like about Evernote is that I have access to my information anywhere, anytime. From what I can tell, the other three only work on the computer on which they are installed, that is, no mobile version.

Evernote won’t do all that these packages above can do, as easily as these will but it all comes down to what you need. For example, Evernote will allow you to keep photos you take through various stages of the painting in the one note. I think Flick is the only one of the other three that allows that.

The most important thing you need though is to have some sort of record of your work. Do something about it now!

There are a lot of misconceptions about copyright. Fortunately there are organisations out there who know the rules and can answer your questions and possibly keep you out of trouble.

Let’s keep it simple for a moment…

• If you create it from scratch, from your own reference material then copyright is yours and nobody else can use it without permission.
• If you download a picture from the internet, use someone else’s photo without permission or copy another piece of art and then sell it – more than likely, you’ve breached copyright.

Here’s two links that might save you some time, money and heartache should you ever think about using someone else’s images.

The Australian Copyright Council - this link is to a set of their most common questions, lots of good information here.

Arts Law Centre of Australia – again, a great list of common questions.

I think one of the biggest misconceptions out there is that you can use an image if you change it by more than 10%. WRONG!

The Art Law Centre covers this briefly but it’s quite simple. Firstly, you ARE copying someone’s work – even if you change 90% of it and the remaining 10% is the key part of the original image and still recognisable as such, you are breaching copyright.

Copyright is a sale-able product. Let’s say your normal policy is to have all your originals (even commissions) photographed and put into production so you can sell reproductions and increase your income. Then someone comes along and says they don’t want you to do that with their painting. They want to deprive you of income.

You have several choices…

• Don’t take the commission – you’ll miss out on the original sale and the potential income from reproductions. 
• Take the commission at your regular price and miss out on the extra potential income from reproduction sales.
• Charge them a premium for an exclusive product. The price you charge should be enough to satisfy you for the loss of income caused by not being able to reproduce the work. It might be 10% extra, maybe 100% extra – it all depends what it’s worth to you and how much the client wants that exclusivity. I believe the figure should be based on the average profit you would make from reproduction sales.
• Sell them the copyright. Back in the early 90′s, my Grandfather commissioned a painting, the original cost him $10,000. He was a pretty shrewd bloke and managed to talk the artist into selling him the copyright for an extra $1000. Grandad’s passed on now and that painting hangs in my office with all rights having been passed on to me. I have the right to reproduce it in anyway I see fit.

Always keep in mind that just because you are an artist, you are also running a business – you need to make a profit to stay in business.

Another important point to remember about copyright from a business perspective. Copyright is held for 70 years after the death of the copyright holder. It is a will-able and transferable entity so when you die, you can pass copyright on to your children. They can then continue to sell your originals or reproductions and sign them on your behalf as the current copyright holders. What a great legacy to leave your children!

I was chatting with a new client the other day and the subject of contracts came up. Now, remember, I’m not an artist or a lawyer but I do know that if you want to keep out of trouble it’s best to have things in writing where money is concerned.

Below is a very simply agreement that every artist can use as is, or amend to suit your purpose. Remember, this is not meant to be a 47 page document of legal mumbo-jumbo, but a simple, one page agreement (sounds better than “Contract” but that’s what it is). Keep it simple, keep it clear and easy to understand.

I feel these are the basic points you need to cover in any commission agreement and I’ll explain a few of them so you are clear on why they are there. If you already use a contract/agreement and have some special point you feel should be included, please let us all know by commenting below.

1. The Artwork - Describe the dimensions and medium of the artwork to be created. Will it be paper, canvas (stretched, rolled), framed, watercolour, pastel or oil?

2. The Concept – What do they want you to paint? Get it in writing from them before you fill in this section. Ask them for as much detail as possible. If they write it down, the assignment will be clearer for you and you shouldn’t miss any important points!

3. Agreed Price – Discuss the price upfront. Be confident and be sure to charge enough for your expertise. Remember, the more difficult the task, the more it should cost. The price should include GST and this should be stated in the agreement.

4. Payment Schedule – The money is always the hardest part for most artists. You must get some payment up front to cover expenses and confirm the agreement. This should be called a “NON-REFUNDABLE FEE” which must be paid before the work will commence. Do not call it a deposit - deposits are refundable. I’d suggest a minimum of 30% up to 50% should be paid to start work. You are in business after all. So break it down into “Non-refundable Fee” and “Balance owing on Completion”.

5. Estimated Completion Date. This one will vary from artist to artist, some of you paint quite fast, others take a little longer. Your current workload will dictate how long it could take but giving your client an estimated date will let them know that you plan to have it finished at some point. If something happens and that date looks impossible, contact them early enough to allay any fears.

 6. Standard Copyright clause. This advises them that they must not copy your work and that you have the legal right to use the artwork to create reproductions and generate more income for your business if you so desire. HERE’S THE IMPORTANT BIT… If they don’t want to agree to this clause, then you have two choices… 1. Do not accept the assignment or 2. Charge them extra for the privilege of keeping their image unique. Remember, if reproducing your work and selling reproductions is standard practice in your business, then their request is costing you money! Also keep in mind that Copyright can be sold or licensed but we’ll save that for another time.

7. Right of Refusal. Ok, so what do you do if it all goes pear-shaped and they don’t like it? Be prepared. Decide in advance how you will handle this situation. Have several options to offer them -
REPAINT – costs you more time and money and should only be required if you’ve completely stuffed up the brief.
RETOUCH – if there are only a few little things that concern them and you can fix them, do so. A happy client will talk abou the trouble you went to getting it right.
RETREAT – If they decide they want out for whatever reason, and it will happen, then simply refer to Clause 7 in your agreement, say thanks very much, keep the painting and the money paid so far.

Custom Art Commission Agreement

This Agreement is made the _________ day of _____________ (month), _____________ (year),
by & between:

(The Artist) Name: ____________________________________________________________
Address: ________________________________________________________________
Phone: ___________________________ Email: _________________________________

And

(The Collector) Name: _________________________________________________________
Address: _________________________________________________________________
Phone: ____________________________ Email: _________________________________

Agreement between Artist & Collector as follows:

1. The Artwork:

2. The Concept:

3. Agreed Price: 

4. Payment Schedule:

Non-Refundable Fee -

Balance Owing -

5. Estimated Completion Date:

6. Copyright: The Artist retains the copyright to all works commissioned and created for the Collector, including all reproduction rights and the right to claim statutory copyright. No artwork may be reproduced or altered without the written consent of the Artist.

7. Right of Refusal: In the event that the Collector does not wish to complete the purchase the commissioned artwork, the Collector may refuse. In that case, the Artist will retain the refused artwork and the non-refundable fee. The Collector will owe no further monies to the Artist. The Artist may use the refused artwork in any way they see fit.

Agreed to by both the Artist and Collector as per the date above.

____________________________________

Artist

____________________________________
Collector

So, have I missed anything? What are the “MUST HAVE” points in your agreements? Let us know.