Always Use Protection: What to Include in an Illustration Contract*

Think of it like I’m your bestie giving you hot contract tips over a glass of boxed wine. It’s good advice… but not, like, the best advice.

Yes, you need a written agreement. Sure, it can be on the second page of your invoice. Yes, it needs to be signed. Yes, you should have a legal professional draft it for you. That being said, I know a lot of you are still going to write it yourself, so let’s talk about what you should include.

BTW, I’m not an attorney. At all. I draw flowers for a living. I’m wildly unqualified to give you this advice. Read on at your own risk, and find some actual professional resources at the bottom. (How’s that for incentive to read further, eh?)

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Overall notes:

Be consistent about how you refer to yourself, your work, and the client. For instance, either refer to yourself by name, as the “Artist”, or “Illustrator”, etc. But, whichever you choose, be consistent. Same goes for the client: call them the “Client” or refer to them by name each time.
Refer to your artwork consistently as well: refer to it as “The Illustrations” or “The Artwork”, “The Work”,  or “The Patterns”, but try not to bounce around too much for the sake of consistency. For the examples below, I’ve used [brackets] to indicate spots that you should customize, and italics for example text. I’ve referred to the work as “Illustrations” here, for the sake of clarity.

Terminology doesn’t have to be fancy. Please, please don’t attempt to lawyer speak. A clearly written document is better than a faux-lawyer, jargon-filled document, and certainly better than nothing.

*You may call it a Contract, I refer to it as an Agreement unless it’s been drafted by a professional (I’m not one). So you’ll see the term Agreement used below.

If you need some background on any of these terms, especially the Licensing section, read this post first. Got it? Here we goooooooooo:

What to include in an illustration agreement

• The Title

  • Be clear about exactly what this agreement entails.
    “Pattern Design Agreement”, “Illustration Licensing Agreement”, “Packaging Illustration Agreement” etc. 

• The Parties

  • List yourself and your title, along with the Client and their pertinent info.

• Description of Services

  • Outline the exact work that will be done. 

  • Include any hard dates, or any time estimates that you and the client have agreed to. 

    3 book cover illustrations for [Client] for their 2023 holiday gifting program. Project will begin Oct 1, 2023. Deadline is Oct 31, 2023. Illustrations will be completed in 4 weeks (20 business days) barring any revisions or unexpected delays in feedback. 

• Edits and Revisions

  • List exactly what is included.

  • List the expectations for feedback and revision rounds.

    2 rounds of edits are included (up to 2 hours a piece) at each stage: (1) Linework, (2) Color and (3) Final layout. This allows for 12 total revision hours on this project. 

    [Your Name] will send project updates a minimum of once per week. [Client] will provide feedback by EOD the following business day and [Your Name] will provide an estimate of time to complete any requests within 12 hours of receipt. Any delays in feedback may result in delayed deliverables. 

• Compensation

  • List the fees you have agreed to, the payment schedule, any additional costs and kill fees.

    [Client] will pay [Your Name] an amount of [Price] in two non-refundable parts: The first fifty percent (50%) upon signature of this agreement, and the the final fifty percent (50%) within 30 days of completion of the illustrations. 

    Any additional work beyond the scope of this agreement will be charged at [Hourly fee] and the total will be added as a separate line item in the final invoice.

    If, for any reason, this project is terminated, [Client] agrees to pay [Your Name] for any and all work performed towards completion of the project within 30 days of project termination. 

• Rights Granted

  • Include exactly who owns what, what terms you’ve agreed to, and–in the case of licensing–any important dates or terms. *More on licensing terms here*

    If it’s a licensing agreement, consider:

    [Your Name] owns all rights, including copyright, to the illustrations created. Upon project completion and final payment, [Your Name] grants [Company] the [Exclusive or non-exclusive) right to use, reproduce and showcase the illustrations on [the Product] for [Period of time]. (Include geography, if this is part of the agreement)

    If it’s a non-commercial (not for profit) agreement, consider:

    [Client] may not use, publish or sell the illustrations for profit without prior written agreement and a payment of at least [100%] of the above fee, unless other terms are agreed upon. 

    If it’s full buyout / work-for-hire, consider:

    Upon project completion and final payment, [Your Name] grants [Company] the full copyright to the illustrations to use at their sole discretion in perpetuity.

  • I’d also recommend always including this line somewhere:
    Artist retains all rights not expressly granted.
    

• Indemnification

  • This one sounds scary, but it’s important. Basically, indemnification clauses make it clear what legal implications might be if something goes terribly wrong. You will see this term time and time again in standard agreements, so it’s an important one to understand. Essentially, to “indemnify” someone is to hold them responsible for expenses, damages or otherwise bad things in the event of legal trouble. As a general rule, you should only ever agree to be responsible for the losses or damages arising from your own actions, not anyone else’s. 
    

  • I see language similar to this in a lot of the standard agreements that clients send over: “Freelancer shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless [Client] against all damages, claims, liabilities, losses and other expenses, that arise out of Freelancer’s breach of any representation or warranty or other provision of this Agreement.”
    

    This is great for the client, but doesn’t protect you at all if the client is the one who misuses the artwork in any way. By the way, if you think illustrations can’t get someone in trouble, I always think of this fictional (but, not far-fetched?) example: you illustrate a mushroom for a company for a cute little journal design. Someone claims that they found a similar looking mushroom in nature and eat it, and get really sick. They claim to have eaten it because it looked cute and editable in the design you created. They sue the company. The company indemnifies you. You end up in the hot seat. It sounds ridiculous, but it could happen!

  • I think it’s important to include a few lines about reasonable expectations, like this: 

    [Your Name] assures that all illustrations are original and contain only material that is their original work or provided to them by [Client]. [Client] agrees to hold harmless [Your Name] from any damages, claims, legal costs and other expenses that may arise out of [Client’s] use of the illustrations.  

There is a chance that the client will ask for mutual indemnification, and I’d say that’s a solid compromise. Ask them to draft the statement in their preferred language, look over it, and include it in the agreement.

• Signature Lines

  • Include one for you, with your name, date, address

  • Include one for your client, with their name, date, address
    Send it to them to sign, then you countersign, and send them a copy. This is done digitally most of the time.
    

Some additional considerations

• Credit
  You can (and should!) ask to be credited when the client showcases the work. This absolutely merits a discussion. Once you’ve agreed to terms, consider including it in your agreement.

  When sharing online, [Client] will credit [Your Name] in [every? The first?] use of the illustrations using [Your full name, social handle, etc.]

  OR something like:
  [Client] will credit [Your Name] on printed versions of the design, unless where space does not permit, using the text [Your full name, social handle, etc.)

• Requesting Changes to Someone Else’s Contract
  If your client sends you their standard agreement: read it. You are allowed and expected to request changes to any contract. Remember, the entity sending the contract is always going to have language that primarily benefits them. It isn’t their responsibility to be advocating for your rights as an artist. It doesn’t mean they are shady or trying to take advantage of you. Try to assume the best, and request any changes that you see fit.

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I hope this was helpful, and once again let me reiterate that this has not been looked over by a legal professional. The only reason I’m posting about it is because I know 99% of you are writing your own contracts anyway, so you may as well have an additional source of information. Having a written agreement is vital, no matter how simple the language is. Something is WAY better than nothing. 

The suggestions above are not what my contract looks like. I would call them distant cousins at best. It is definitely worth it to have a contract written up by a legal professional. Mine was drafted by a specialist: www.kjnesq.com, It’s multiple pages long, it uses a lot of big scary words, and it was one of the best investments I ever made. I can’t share mine because I paid her to write mine and she’s smart and scary and I probably signed a CONTRACT that says I can’t.

There are also several resources in my favorite book (seriously, have you purchased it yet?) The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines. There are templates, people!!

If you found this info valuable, or if you are a legal professional and want to provide some free advice in the comments, go forth…

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• Purchase a print from my online shop: littlepatterns.com/shop (I make ~$11.50 per print)

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