Illustration Rights

[amandasinclairg]

Hi everyone.

I’ve been working with an illustrator for several months. They have done an amazing job. I have paid them for their work and had edits in the illustrations.
I’m in the process of becoming published and need a few final edits to the text but I have not been able to reach the illustrator for over a month.
Do I have the right to fix the text in the image myself? Do I have the rights?
What should I do?
Thanks

[mattboa]

The ToS have the answers to all your questions in this case, but you will need to check yourself on the artist’s gig.

If said illustrator’s gig page contains any text regarding usage rights, or has any sort of commercial licence Gig Extra or package option which you have bought along with/in the order, all possible lifetime rights to the art you have received from the delivered order (checked as complete) have already been transferred to you. You can only lose them if you decide to cancel an order before it’s done or after its completion; the rights will return to the seller in that case. And when we talk all possible rights we mean personal, licensing (as in leasing it rather than selling/completely giving it away) and commercial use. You own it forever and you can publish it, edit it, destroy it, etc.

Example from a random seller’s gig, in this case it’s inside the basic package and not even a Gig Extra at the bottom of the page to pay more money for:

Only if you have purchased a lesser package without commercial rights, you may not publish nor edit the artwork. If you have bought a gig without rights (meaning you are only entitled to personal use), you may need to discuss things with the artist and wait for them.

My biggest concern here would be to hire someone who can Photoshop letters or text nicely to make it look like it was never modified, with any edits blending in the background efficiently, if you really can’t reach or find them elsewhere. I assume you’ve bought something with commercial use already since you plan on publishing a book.

[cc_animation]

I’m not familiar with Fiverr’s policy on this, but my general experience is that you may edit an illustration you ordered in any way you like. As long as you don’t claim copyright/trademark without permission of the illustrator or buying the full rights from them.

In comparison: if you buy an image license from a stock agency, you’re free to edit that as well as per the terms of the agency, as long as (again) you don’t re-sell, claim copyright or trademark the work without buying the full rights from the illustrator.

As an illustrator myself, anyone who orders an illustration or other creative work from me, gets exclusive, lifetime user rights (including the right to edit, alter and embed the work in any way they want, for personal or commercial use). I do retain copyright and reserve the right to call myself the creator of the original work, no matter how it’s altered or used.

[amandasinclairg]

I’m not familiar with Fiverr’s policy on this, but my general experience is that you may edit an illustration you ordered in any way you like. As long as you don’t claim copyright/trademark without permission of the illustrator or buying the full rights from them.

In comparison: if you buy an image license from a stock agency, you’re free to edit that as well as per the terms of the agency, as long as (again) you don’t re-sell, claim copyright or trademark the work without buying the full rights from the illustrator.

As an illustrator myself, anyone who orders an illustration or other creative work from me, gets exclusive, lifetime user rights (including the right to edit, alter and embed the work in any way they want, for personal or commercial use). I do retain copyright and reserve the right to call myself the creator of the original work, no matter how it’s altered or used.

Thank you for your feedback. I couldn’t get a clear answer on any of the help options.