Our studio honors the ”Code of Fair Practice” as outlined by the Graphic Artist’s Guild. Click here to learn more about the Graphic Artists Guild and the history of the code.

The Code of Fair Practice

  • ARTICLE 1. Negotiations between an artist or the artist’s repre­sen­tative and a client shall be conducted only through an autho­rized buyer.
  • ARTICLE 2. Orders or agree­ments between an artist or artist’s repre­sen­tative and buyer should be in writing and shall include the specific rights which are being trans­ferred, the specific fee arrangement agreed to by the parties, delivery date, and a summa­rized description of the work.
  • ARTICLE 3. All changes or addi­tions not due to the fault of the artist or artist’s repre­sen­tative should be billed to the buyer as an addi­tional and separate charge.
  • ARTICLE 4. There should be no charges to the buyer for revi­sions or retakes made necessary by errors on the part of the artist or the artist’s representative.
  • ARTICLE 5. If work commis­sioned by a buyer is post­poned or canceled, a “kill-​fee” should be nego­tiated based on time allotted, effort expended, and expenses incurred. In addition, other lost work shall be considered.
  • ARTICLE 6. Completed work shall be promptly paid for in full and the artwork shall be returned promptly to the artist. Payment due the artist shall not be contingent upon third-​party approval or payment.
  • ARTICLE 7. Alterations shall not be made without consulting the artist. Where alter­ations or retakes are necessary, the artist shall be given the oppor­tunity of making such changes.
  • ARTICLE 8. The artist shall notify the buyer of any antic­i­pated delay in delivery. Should the artist fail to keep the contract through unrea­sonable delay or noncon­for­mance with agreed spec­i­fi­ca­tions, it will be considered a breach of contract by the artist. Should the agreed timetable be delayed due to the buyer’s failure, the artist should endeavor to adhere as closely as possible to the original schedule as other commit­ments permit.
  • ARTICLE 9. Whenever prac­tical, the buyer of artwork shall provide the artist with samples of the repro­duced artwork for self-​promotion purposes.
  • ARTICLE 10. There shall be no undis­closed rebates, discounts, gifts, or bonuses requested by or given to buyers by the artist or representative.
  • ARTICLE 11. Artwork and copy­right ownership are vested in the hands of the artist unless agreed to in writing. No works shall be dupli­cated, archived, or scanned without the artist’s prior authorization.
  • ARTICLE 12. Original artwork, and any material object used to store a computer file containing original artwork, remains the property of the artist unless it is specif­i­cally purchased. It is distinct from the purchase of any repro­duction rights.1 All trans­ac­tions shall be in writing.
  • ARTICLE 13. In case of copy­right transfers, only spec­ified rights are trans­ferred. All unspec­ified rights remain vested with the artist. All trans­ac­tions shall be in writing.
  • ARTICLE 14. Commissioned artwork is not to be considered as “work for hire” unless agreed to in writing before work begins.
  • ARTICLE 15. When the price of work is based on limited use and later such work is used more exten­sively, the artist shall receive addi­tional payment.
  • ARTICLE 16. Art or photog­raphy should not be copied for any use, including client presen­tation or “comping,” without the artist’s prior autho­rization. If exploratory work, compre­hen­sives, or prelim­inary photographs from an assignment are subse­quently chosen for repro­duction, the artist’s permission shall be secured and the artist shall receive fair addi­tional payment.
  • ARTICLE 17. If exploratory work, compre­hen­sives, or photographs are bought from an artist with the intention or possi­bility that another artist will be assigned to do the finished work, this shall be in writing at the time of placing the order.
  • ARTICLE 18. Electronic rights are separate from tradi­tional media, and shall be sepa­rately nego­tiated. In the absence of a total copy­right transfer or a work-​for-​hire agreement, the right to reproduce artwork in media not yet discovered is subject to negotiation.
  • ARTICLE 19. All published illus­tra­tions and photographs should be accom­panied by a line cred­iting the artist by name, unless otherwise agreed to in writing.
  • ARTICLE 20. The right of an illus­trator to sign work and to have the signature appear in all repro­duc­tions should remain intact.
  • ARTICLE 21. There shall be no plagiarism of any artwork.
  • ARTICLE 22. If an artist is specif­i­cally requested to produce any artwork during unrea­sonable working hours, fair addi­tional remu­ner­ation shall be paid.
  • ARTICLE 23. All artwork or photog­raphy submitted as samples to a buyer should bear the name of the artist or artists respon­sible for the work. An artist shall not claim authorship of another’s work.
  • ARTICLE 24. All companies that receive artist port­folios, samples, etc. shall be respon­sible for the return of the port­folio to the artist in the same condition as received.
  • ARTICLE 25. An artist entering into an agreement with a repre­sen­tative for exclusive repre­sen­tation shall not accept an order from nor permit work to be shown by any other repre­sen­tative. Any agreement that is not intended to be exclusive should set forth the exact restric­tions agreed upon between the parties.
  • ARTICLE 26. Severance of an asso­ci­ation between artist and repre­sen­tative should be agreed to in writing. The agreement should take into consid­er­ation the length of time the parties have worked together as well as the representative’s financial contri­bution to any ongoing adver­tising or promotion. No repre­sen­tative should continue to show an artist’s samples after the termi­nation of an association.
  • ARTICLE 27. Examples of an artist’s work furnished to a repre­sen­tative or submitted to a prospective buyer shall remain the property of the artist, should not be dupli­cated without the artist’s autho­rization, and shall be returned promptly to the artist in good condition.
  • ARTICLE 28.2 Interpretation of the Code for the purposes of arbi­tration shall be in the hands of a body desig­nated to resolve the dispute, and is subject to changes and addi­tions at the discretion of the parent orga­ni­za­tions through their appointed repre­sen­ta­tives on the Committee. Arbitration by a desig­nated body shall be binding among the parties, and deci­sions may be entered for judgment and execution.
  • ARTICLE 29. Work on spec­u­lation: Contests. Artists and designers who accept spec­u­lative assign­ments (whether directly from a client or by entering a contest or compe­tition) risk losing antic­i­pated fees, expenses, and the potential oppor­tunity to pursue other, rewarding assign­ments. Each artist shall decide indi­vid­ually whether to enter art contests or design compe­ti­tions, provide free services, work on spec­u­lation, or work on a contin­gency basis.