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An Introductory Guide to Licensing Your Artwork

Earlier this year, we covered the importance of diversifying your income as an artist. In it, we shared that income diversification was not just about creating a more stable financial foundation, but also about encouraging you to expand the way you create, while also exposing your art to a wider audience.

As we prepare to launch our very first HUG Print Shop in October, we felt that it was important to cover the nuances of what it means to license your artwork, so artists can make more informed decisions if they want to explore this strategy in order to diversify their work.

While an important revenue strategy for some artists, artwork licensing is also something that may not be suitable for everyone.

Let’s dive in.

What does it mean to license your artwork?

Think of licensing as a way to rent out your artistic creations.

When you license your artwork, you enter into an agreement with a separate entity (typically a business), granting them permission to use your art on various products, from wall art to bed sheets, or in various applications, such as TV commercials or movie posters. This mutually beneficial partnership allows your art to become a part of people's everyday lives, and in doing so, helps your art live on and get expressed through different mediums.

Importantly, licensing enables you to maintain ownership of your intellectual property while allowing others to use it within specified terms, such as territory and duration. You have the flexibility to choose whether to remain anonymous or include your signature on the artwork, granting you full creative control.

Common Licensing Terms

Legal terms can be intimidating, especially if you are encountering them for the first time. That said, they really aren’t too complicated once you get the hang of them!

Here is an overview of common licensing terms to help make them more approachable:

• Licensor: The person that grants the license, and in this case, the artist, i.e. you!

• Licensee: The person or entity that receives the license, i.e. has permission to use your artwork for a particular purpose.

• Exclusive license: When the artist (licensor) grants an exclusive license, the licensee is the only one (yes, that excludes the licensor and artist too!) that can use the artwork for the stated purpose or in a specific market.

• Non-exclusive license: If the artist (licensor) grants a non-exclusive license, this means that the artist can also use, sell, or monetize their artwork through other ways that do not include the licensee.

• Sole license: In a sole license, the licensor agrees to have just one licensee, while reserving the right to continue to use the artwork.

• Revocable: A revocable license means that the licensor, i.e. the artist, can change their mind and revoke the license or permission given to the licensee to use their artwork.

• Non-revocable: Conversely, a non-revocable license means that the licensee has the permission to license the artist’s artwork in perpetuity.

Additionally, artists also need to be aware of what rights they are granting in the license. Here are some common rights that may be involved in a license:

• Right to produce copies of your work: This is the most evident and common right that you will be granting when licensing your artwork. This is necessary for the licensee to reproduce your work, e.g. turn your artwork into a print, greeting card, cushion cover, and more.

• Right to distribute your work: The right to distribute the work is a subset of the right to reproduce. This allows the licensee to distribute or sell your work through channels or in markets specified in the agreement.

• Right to change or modify your work: Sometimes, licensees may also want the right to make amendments to your work. This could be in the case of manufacturing physical products, where something has to be cropped to size. Alternatively, this could also apply in the reproduction of a book as a movie, where certain details are adapted to fit a screenplay better.

Other things that you will need to be mindful of in a licensing agreement include:

• Territory: Where can the licensee use your artwork? Can they use it in just one city, one country, or can they use it worldwide?

• Usage: How will your artwork be used? Is it on one product or multiple products?

• Term: How long is the licensing agreement? Is it a few months, a year, or longer?

• Payment: How and when are you getting paid? Is the licensing fee made as a fixed one-time payment, or is it made based on a percentage of sales?

• Termination: Can you terminate the agreement and how do you do so?

Feeling a little more comfortable on what licensing your artwork entails? Now let’s dive into 3 reasons why you should consider doing so.

3 Reasons to Consider Licensing Your Artwork

Reason #1: Licensing expands upon the creative interpretation of your work.

One of the biggest licensors we come into contact with on an everyday basis are character IP holders like Mattel with Barbie, and Disney with its various Marvel characters.

This summer, we saw Mattel license their Barbie logo, artwork, and other elements of their IP, which got reproduced on different items and mediums. Licensing allows you to have your artwork represented, interpreted, and discovered in new ways.

Reason #2: Licensing opens up the opportunity for passive income.

One of the most appealing aspects of licensing your artwork is the potential for a steady and passive stream of income, long and well after the point when you initially created your artworks.

The pricing structure for licensing can vary widely, but artists typically earn either a flat fee or a percentage of sales of their products featuring their artwork, or a combination of both.

HUG Artist Leah Sams, who recently dropped her second collaboration with Man City, shared some of her own unique insights on licensing.

Reason #3: Licensing helps you gain exposure beyond your current audience.

Artists are often faced with the question of how to navigate the ever-evolving art market and gain exposure beyond their efforts on social media.

By licensing your work, you not only retain ownership of the intellectual property and copyright of your work, it also gives you the opportunity to get exposed to other industries like entertainment, sports, fashion, and more. Through licensing, your art essentially becomes a versatile asset that can be adapted to various products and industries.

Artist Amber Vittoria has had over a decade of experience licensing her artwork, and has monetized her artwork by licensing them to be sold on items like home goods and ready-to-drink beverages.

Why should an artist NOT license their artwork?

While licensing artwork comes with a lot of benefits, it may not be the ideal choice for every artist. Licensing requires a willingness to hand over creative control of your work to others in order for them to adapt your art to fit various products and markets. For some artists, maintaining complete autonomy over their artistic vision is paramount, and licensing may feel like a compromise.

Some artists may also find that focusing on selling original pieces, prints, or commissions aligns better with their artistic goals and values. Ultimately, the decision to license artwork should be a thoughtful and individual one, with each artist needing to weight the potential benefits against their own artistic priorities and aspirations.

Closing thoughts

Licensing your artwork can offer artists a multitude of benefits, including creative expansion, additional income, and exposure for your work. In many ways, licensing is a path that can allow artists to continue sharing their vision with the world for both new and existing work.

In fact, if you land the right licensing deal with the right partner, you could potentially land recurring income with little to no follow-up work, for potentially years.

In the News

Industry News

• French art museum Musée d’Orsay is teaming up with the Tezos Foundation to bring blockchain-backed artworks and on-chain digital artists into conversation with the museum’s collections and exhibitions.

• Meta is teaming up with Ray-ban to launch Smart Glasses that will allow users to take calls, play music, and live stream from their face.

• The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has teamed up with the Pokémon Company on a special exhibition as part of a 50th anniversary celebration.

• Denver Walls, an international street art festival is merging art and blockchain for an interactive art experience.

Tools and Resources

• OpenAI’s unveiled a major upgrade to ChatGPT, which will allow users to engage in voice conversations as well as upload or capture photos within the app.

• Transient Labs announced the launch of T.R.A.C.E, which stands for Tokenized Records for Artwork Certification and Evolution, together with artist AlphaCentauriKid to introduce provenance on the blockchain for physical art.

Notable Creators

• Digital artist Refik Anadol unveiled an AI data sculpture for French fashion brand Dior, with support from Hollywood actresses like Charlize Theron and Anya Taylor-Joy.

Artist Grants and Opportunities

HUG-exclusive

• 🥖 Paris is calling! Have you ever dreamed of showing your work at the foot of the Eiffel Tower? We are looking for 10 artists to showcase at NFT Paris 2024. Learn more and submit here.

• 🔦 Is having a solo show on your bucket list? We are giving 1 lucky artist the opportunity to have a solo show at Suburbs Gallery in Montreal, Canada. Learn more and submit here.

• 💵 Get awarded with a $500 USD grant! Our partners at Virtualness are inviting you to mint digital goods on their platform and are awarding 5 artists with a $500 USD grant each. Learn more and submit here.

• 🏃‍♀️ Do you run like a mother…? Founder and CEO of HUG Randi Zuckerberg is running her first marathon at the NYC Marathon in November, and she is offering cash prizes and looking for someone to design a jersey she can run 26 miles in! Learn more and submit here.

• ☕️ Enter the Crypto Cafe with 3 incredible artists - POST WOOK, ALIENQUEEN, and Refik Anadol! Join Randi on her SiriusXM podcast where she interviews the leading thinkers in arts and technology. Learn more and submit your interest to join our conversations with the following artists:

  • Psychedelic artist ALIENQUEEN

  • Digital and AI artist Refik Anadol (who is taking over the Sphere in Las Vegas!)

  • Collage artist POST WOOK

• 💰 HUG is offering $500 USD grants to two artists each month in exchange for unminted artwork to raffle off to our community. Learn more and meet all our HUG Visionaries here.

Other Open Calls

• Calling all digital artists! HUG Artist Rebecca Rose has curated a list of open calls for digital art galleries. Learn more here.

• Photographers are wanted for an opportunity to get their work showcased in Barcelona at the European Blockchain Convention. Learn more and submit here.

• Claire Silver’s AI art competition has returned, where she will be giving out over $10K of prizes. Learn more and submit here.

This Week’s Art Drops

Did you know that these are just 8 of hundreds of art drops on HUG? Get a full list of this week’s art drops from HUG here.