A Guide To Art Licensing

Creating unique, individually inspired works of art or designs requires much time and focused attention from an artist. Art licensing is a loan of art, images, or designs from an artist to a manufacturer so that they can put it on their product for a certain time period, with certain restrictions on usage depending on contracted terms.

Any product which can be modified to include images on them, from collectibles to home decor to decals, can be involved in art licensing. This includes sunglasses, apparel, movies, greeting cards, reproduced prints, dinnerware, paper products, lunch boxes, t-shirts, shower curtains, calendars, billboards, websites, and et cetera.

Licensing for Artists

Reinforce your own brand and form a business instead of selling originals, or selling designs outright. Build up residual income with multiple streams of income from a single piece of art. Earn royalties on products sold or a flat fee for the loan of the art. Retain ownership and copyright of your art. Share your art with more people with the distribution power of licensors. Get more publicity through joint marketing efforts with licensees. Receive regular income. Licensing for Businesses and Consumers

You may be able to reduce in-house design costs and move your business up the value chain by developing effective art licensing plans. Uniqlo has licensed art from Disney and LINE to promote its apparel among the young.

Some small businesses that are considering licensing assume licensors prefer to work with larger, well- established licensees. What licensors are more concerned with though, is that potential licensees have a solid track record of making quality products. Small businesses interested in obtaining a license must be willing to submit to financial scrutiny, provide references, describe their available sales force and retail accounts, and make sales projections.

There is no hard and fast rule on how a licensing contract should be. At the end of the day, it is up to the mutual intention and agreement of the artist and the licensee company. It is highly advisable for both parties to consult a lawyer before entering into any art licensing contracts to make sure your rights and risks are protected.

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