Good morning all,
So I run a shirt business and recently an artist told me he wants to give me a piece of art (for free), to use on a shirt. I don’t know what kind of paperwork I need to do in order to legally make sure everything is good. I don’t want them to give me the full assignment of copyright for the art, I just want to have the ability to sell the work without any shenanigans, should they change their mind. Thank you for any advice fr
Usage rights signed by him. I’m not a lawyer but I do believe that needs to be very specific about dates , periods, and any specifications about payments.
In addition to what u/BizWhizPro said, artist may want his name on the art. Be prepared for your answer to that.
You need rights not to just reproduce the art on t-shirts, but to be able to publish the art in digital form for marketing, and not just for you but any affiliates who market your products or buy them. Since this a commercial use of a copyright I would pay an attorney to write up a release. My wife’s employer had to pay off 2 photographers because they fell for a trap about copyright usage. and the photographers intentionally set the trap, several businesses had to pay. It is something you have to settle because because court you will lose big.
IP released to you