ArtistsConsult P.A.L.

What is Art licensing?

Practical Art Licensing
~ P.A.L. ~

Learn How to License Your Art

Helping artists learn about art licensing. These pages are essential reading for the artist who is serious about learning how to license art.

 

"Artists PAL"

We use the term "Artists PAL" to describe what we do. "PAL" actually has a double meaning:
1) Professional Art Licensing
2) Practical Approach to Licensing

 

The phrase, "Practical Approach to Learning about the Professional Art Licensing Business", doesn't make a fun acronym, but it does describe what you, the artist, will be exposed to, while reading the content on ArtistsConsult's several websites.

 

An outline of learning topics follows.

1. WHAT IS ART LICENSING

• 1.1. Art Licensing Overview
  • Art Licensing As a Way to Covert Art Making Into a Business
  • Art Licensing Defined
    

• 1.2. Why Would I Want To License My Art?
  • Realistic Expectations
    • Money
    • Fame
  • Art Licensing Income Compared To Traditional Art Sales Strategies

• 1.3. Types Of Art Licenses
  • Traditional Royalty License
    • Royalty On Sales
    • Fixed Fee Royalty
  • Royalty Free License
  • Rights Managed License

• 1.4. Forms Of Art Licensing
  • Character Licensing
  • Franchise And Brand Licensing
  • Fine Art Licensing
    • Risks
    • Rewards
  • Illustration Licensing
    
  • Photography Licensing

• 1.5. Methods Of Art Licensing
  • Rights Managed (RM) Licensing
  • Royalty Free (RF) Licensing

• 1.6. Art As Intellectual Property:
        Concept Of Intellectual Property In Art Licensing.
  • Copyright
    • what is Copyright
    • What To Do ( How To) To Protect Your Copyright
    • copyright as a business value
  • Other Forms of Intectual Property;
    • trade marks
    • brands
    • patents

2. ART LICENSING; GETTING STARTED

• 2.1. Am I Ready For Art Licensing?
• Assessment STEP#1: Art Assessment
  • Body of Artwork (quantity Available to License)
  • Quality of Artwork (suitability for product use)
• Assessment STEP#2: Personal Assessment
  • Do I have the temperament to be a businessperson
  • Do I have the knowledge to be a businessperson
  • Am I prepared to invest time to build a business
  • Am I prepared to invest money to build a business
• Assessment STEP#3: goals and objectives assesmnet:

• 2.2. Digitazing Artwork
• why and when you have to digitize your art
• Digitizing Art – Technical Considerations
• Scanning Your Art
• digitizing art with Digital Photography
• Digitizing Traditional Photography ( scanning film)

• 2.3. Archiving Artwork
  • What is an Archive and Why Should I care?
  • Archive to Protect Your Valuable Images Archive Systems
  • Archive Strategies
  • Cataloging Criteria

3. MARKETING YOUR ART

• 3.1. STEP #1 : Building A Strategy: Strategic Marketing
• What is a SWOT Analysis
• Does an Artist Need an Agent?

• 3.2. STEP #2 Defining Your Target Market(S)
• Giftware
• Stationery
• Housewares
• Home Furnishings
• Textiles/Clothing
• Fine Art Prints
• Mass Market Prints
• Print-on-Demand
• Greeting/Note Cards
• Character Art
• Designs

• 3.3. STEP #3: Branding
• Branding For Art Licesning
• Artist’s Name vs. Business Name
• Artist’s Biography
• Artist’s Statement
• Artist’s Resume

• 3.4. STEP #4 Creating An Art Licensing Catalog
• Content: What To Include In The Catalog.
• Body Of Art Versus Selection : portfolio versus catalog
• Determining What Is Your “Best” Art: portfolio basics
• Layout: How To Organize Catalog’s Constant Visually
• Media
• Digital Catalog Versus Printed
• Forms Of Digital Catalogs
• PDF Tearsheets
• eBooks (PDF)
• CD / DVD
• JPEG Files

• 3.5. STEP # 5 Pricing The License
• What Is A “Kill-Fee”?
• What Is “Work For Hire”?
• pricing considerations #1
• pricing considerations #2
• pricing considerations #3
• pricing considerations #4

• 3.6. When Do You Need An Attorney?
• Business Attorney
• IP Attorney

4. FINDING LICENSING OPPORTUNITIES

• 4.1. Do I Need To Attend Tradeshows
• ArtExpo
• Surtex
• What are Trade “Marts” (or “Markets”?)
  
  

• 4.2. Should I Market My Art Internationally?
• Export Rules
• Money Exchange Rates
• Choice Of Law
• What Is The “UN Convention On Sale Of Goods”

• 4.3. Internet Tools For Art Marketing
• Website
• Blog
• eMail
• RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
• Social Media
• Micro-Blog (Twitter)
• Forums
• Free Downloadable Files
• Tear sheets
• PDF Tear sheets
• eBooks (PDF)
• Snail Mail Marketing
• email Marketing

5. YOUR ART LICENSING WEBSITE

• 5.1. Should I Hire A Designer/Developer?
• 5.2. What Is SEO?
• 5.3. What Are “Keywords”?
• 5.4. Should I Use Flash?
• 5.5. What Pages Are Needed?
• 5.6. What Size Should My Images Be?
• 5.7. Do I Need To Accept Credit Cards?
• 5.8. What Is Paypal?
• 5.9. Digital Branding Of The Website
• 5.10. Social Networking For The Website
• 5.11. Web Promotion Without A Website
• 5.12. Free Web Galleries
• 5.13. Blogging
• 5.14. Should I Offer My Art for Print on Demand (POD)?

6. BUILDING YOUR ART LICENSING BUSINESS

• 6.1. Licensing Agreements
• Business Terms
• Liability
• Warranty
• Termination
• License Grant Terms
• Term
• Territory
• Usage
• Royalty payments

• 6.2. Business Financial Issues
• Accounting / Inventory
• Banking
• Taxes
• The IRS is Not Your Enemy
• The IRS is Not Your Friend

7. OTHER POSSIBILITIES

If Not Licensing, Then What?

• 7.1. Self-Publishing…

• 7.2. Commission Work…

• 7.3. Original Sales…

• Self – direct-to-consumer
• Self – on-line
• Via Gallery
• Via Art Rep

• 7.4. Art Gallery As A Licensee For Prints…