: Re: How does copyright apply to illustrations and cover art? Is a paid-up-front illustrator entitled to royalties? If I hire an illustrator for artwork, and I pay up front on a per-illustration basis,

If you want to obtain the copyright for any artwork, you must put it in writing. Otherwise, the artist will retain copyright, while you will merely have a license to use the artwork in the book for which they were created, and the artist may bar you from using the artwork in other books, or even other editions of the same book.

Your contract should specifically state:

This is a work made for hire.

and

(The artist) will assign all rights in the artwork to (you).

And as a backup, add:

in the event that copyright assignment fails as a matter of law, (the artist) grants (you) an exclusive, irrevocable, fully paid up universe-wide license to use the artwork in any work, any form and on any media currently in existence or invented in the future.

This should cover you, but please keep in mind, I am not a lawyer. When in doubt, you should always seek professional advice.

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@Sarah872

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@Sarah872

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: Depends on your goal for your writing. If you ever want to sell your work commercially, you better stick to conventional formatting. You won't be able to get away with breaking the rules

: Re: How does copyright apply to illustrations and cover art? Is a paid-up-front illustrator entitled to royalties? If I hire an illustrator for artwork, and I pay up front on a per-illustration basis,

More posts by @Sarah872

: What's the distinction between "vanity publishing" and "self publishing"? This question came up on the pros and cons of publishing avenues question; when I tried to look it up, I found the results

: What are examples of fiction books picked up by publishers after being self-published? I've seen some references to commercial publishers picking up a self-published novel if it's been selling

: There's no real limit on what can be published, and I don't think vulgarity is a barrier on poetry (in some markets, sure, but far from all). The question is who exactly you're aiming this

: Depends on your goal for your writing. If you ever want to sell your work commercially, you better stick to conventional formatting. You won't be able to get away with breaking the rules

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