Employ-ment Types

Employment Types: Logistics

Freelance - Work For Hire

• You, as the artist, retain no rights to the creative work. All rights are transferred to the client.

• You will be responsible for providing health insurance and retirement savings for yourself.

• You work in your own studio and incur all (tax deductible) operational expenses.

• You bill the client either hourly or, more commonly, per project.

• You are responsible for paying taxes quarterly.

Freelance Traditional (Becoming Rare)

• You, as the artist, sell usage for media that you create (every time the media is used you can ask for more payment). You as the artist retain the rights to the creative work.

• You will be responsible for providing health insurance and retirement savings for yourself.

• You work in your own studio and incur all (tax deductible) operational expenses.

• You bill the client either hourly or, more commonly, per project.

• You are responsible for paying taxes quarterly.

In-House Contract

• Creative work is generally owned by the employer.

• Sometimes includes health care and retirement benefits if the employment is through a contract agency or you belong to a union.

• You work in-house at the company and they supply all necessary equipment and software.

• Can be direct or through a contract agency

• In broadcast film and animation, the contract is usually for the duration of the show (season by season).

• In feature film and animation, the contract is usually for the duration of the production process you are involved with.

• You are responsible for paying taxes quarterly. If you are contracting through an agency,they will deduct it from your paycheck.

Full-Time Employment

• Creative work is owned by the employer.

• Health and retirement benefits provided by employer.

• You work in-house at the company.

• Taxes are deducted from your paycheck.

Copyright Note

• any work you do while in the building of your full-time, part-time, in-house contract or

• work-for-hire employer... is owned by them the moment you make it. They automatically assume all rights.

Spec (Speculation)

• Creative work is produced for free or at a reduced price on the speculation that payment or credit will be received if the work is used or a product or service generates income.

• Client and artist/designer agrees on a payment arrangement that is based on one of the following:

  • A flat fee for use, only if the work is used

  • A share of future sales or profit. Sales is preferred because profit can be easily manipulated.

  • Credit

• Reasons it can be good:

  • Artists and designers can prove themselves to a potential employer or client and put themselves above their competition.

  • It can be a good way to network, especially if you will be on a team.

  • It can be a way to work in partnership with others to develop a product or service.

  • It can be a good way to learn if you are working closely with a senior professional.

  • It can be a great way to provide your services for a cause you believe in.

• Reasons it can be bad:

  • Some businesses will try to take advantage of artists and designers in markets over-saturated with talent by making this a business model. Check their record if possible.

  • The artist and designer can end up assuming some of the company's financial liabilities if the eventual payoff is in the form of partnership or equity in a company. Make sure that you want that level of commitment before signing up for that.

  • Inexperienced self-publishers looking for speculative partners can be bad bets due to, well, their inexperience.

Special Contract Language

• Non-compete or exclusivity contracts: requires that you not work for any other entity performing the type of work for which they are contracting you. Unless they also, in writing, guarantee enough contract hours for you to make a living, this is extremely problematic.

• Non-disclosure agreements: ask that you not show, including in your portfolio, anyone the work for which you are being contracted. Unless this has a time limit (such as the public release date of the project), this will prevent you from leveraging it in your portfolio to find more work.

Internship

• Creative work is owned by the employer.

• Health and retirement benefits are usually not provided by employer.

• You work in-house at the company and they supply all necessary equipment and software.

• Taxes are deducted from your paycheck.

• By law, this is required to be short-term employment situation... usually no more than 3 months