Who does it belong to?

[Kakarotto-san]

Here's a fun question...say you commission someone to help you design/redesign a character for you..you give them input and all that..who does the design of the character belong to?

This came up because someone came into the chat of a dog sim I play and was frusrated with an artist for claiming the design as her own. They had commissioned the artist to help redesign their fursona.

I thought the design belonged to the person who came up with it..At least the concept part.  

[Krissim Klaw]

The design belongs to the person who commissioned it. They are paying for the service of an artist to help them redesign the character. Thus the artist is giving up the right to claim the design as their own. Yes they can say they had a hand in helping to create the concept, but it isn't their baby so to speak.  

[Kakarotto-san]

Krissim Klaw

The design belongs to the person who commissioned it. They are paying for the service of an artist to help them redesign the character. Thus the artist is giving up the right to claim the design as their own. Yes they can say they had a hand in helping to create the concept, but it isn't their baby so to speak.

That's what I thought. But apparently, this artist doesn't see it that way. She left some nasty replies when people called her out on it on DA. Not only that she apparently has been telling the person who commissioned her that the person's choice of colors are wrong and that she's a professional and she should know.  

[Nicky McCloud]

Wow. :/ That's kinda...snooty of them.  

[Alektorphobia]

I hate artists like that. As far as I'm concerned, any work that's bought from me belongs to the person who paid me for it, as long as they aren't trying to sell prints of it, I don't care what they do with it.  

[Kakarotto-san]

The thing is this artist is one of those uber popluars on DA. So there will be legions of fans to back the artist up even through she's doing wrong. :/

This is one of those times where I consider on leaving DA...  

[Pom Graines]

Little late.. but throwing my two cents in anyway...

This is why I'm really nervous about commissioning anyone who puts disclaimers that they can do whatever they want with the art that people commission from them.

Now to a certain point I can understand that, putting it in portfolios and whatnot is fine, because it would be a fine example of the artist's work...

But things like "I can resell this in any manner I please" (paraphrasing from what I've read on rules of a number of people) kind of irks me.

I wouldn't want any of my characters faces to be plastered on anything (like a pair of pants, a coffee mug or whatever...prints aren't so bad but I'd like permission frst @.@) without my permission--especially since I paid for that image to be rendered in the first place. I think the commissioner has a certain amount of rights to the piece, because while they may have not created the art, they created the character and paid the artist for the service of making that character come to life (as it were...).  

[Zella L.]

Think the artist and commissioner should clear it up beforehand. Maybe the artist could ask for more if they want to sell the rights to the commissioner.