[Groop] CONFIRMED!!! ARAGONES ON "MODERATTO" ALBUM!!!!

[MacQuarrie at Earthlink]

To answer your question...
(Note: This answer is only regarding Copyright laws; when you get into
Trademark law, it's a whole 'nother animal. Also, note, I am not a lawyer,
just a guy who once had to learn a whole lot about intellectual property law
in a fat hurry.) 

Any piece of art carries at least three different sets of rights, each of
which is negotiated separately and carries a different value.

1. Ownership. This refers to possession of the actual original drawing. When
you buy a sketch from Sergio at a con, you acquire the right of ownership,
but not any of the other rights.

2. Publishing. This is the right to reproduce the image a specified number
of times in a specified format for a specified period of time. It may or may
not include reprint rights. I believe all of Sergio's MAD work includes
reprint rights, as with all MAD artists. This was one of the sticking points
that led to Don Martin leaving the magazine. Publishing rights may be
exclusive or not. That is, a cartoon published in Magazine A could also be
sold to Magazine B, or Magazine A can pay extra to make sure nobody else can
use it for a specified period of time or in a specified area.

3. Reproduction. There's some overlap with publishing, but this includes the
right to use the work in other formats and purposes, such as for t-shirts,
art prints, coffee mugs, stained-glass windows, etc and so forth. It may
also include the right to allow others to publish the work.

Add in Trademark law and licensing and it's time to call a lawyer.

All of which is to say, you have the right to hang your Groo sketch on the
wall, or loan it to a museum/gallery to display, but that's about it.

For other uses, you pay extra. Unless it's for a cause that Sergio supports
like CBLDF or Hero Initiative or some such. Then he may very well give
permission.

Now, are you talking about using a piece of art as a logo to identify your
products, or as ornamentation to decorate them? There's a big difference.

Best,

Jim

On 9/21/07 2:15 PM, "groop-request at groo.com" <groop-request at groo.com> wrote:

> Message: 6
> Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:15:22 -0500
> From: Chad Riden <chad at chadriden.com>
> Subject: Re: [Groop] CONFIRMED!!! ARAGONES ON "MODERATTO" ALBUM!!!!
> To: Groop List <groop at groo.com>
> Message-ID: <6E41872F-FA38-44BD-8359-288F9F9CCCA0 at chadriden.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
> 
> This brings up a question I've had in the back of my mind. I'd really
> love to commission Sergio to draw a very specific thing for me. I'd
> want to use that image on websites and put it on t-shirts and cd
> covers and all kinds of stuff. Would he charge me the normal rate for
> a custom drawing? or is it a different deal altogether when you're
> talking about getting art for use in a commercial product you're
> planning such as this band's album?