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Atomik Cupcake Designs Terms of Service and Licensing:

 

 

The Legal Stuff (scroll down for a summary and FAQs):

 

This sections outlines the rights of the commission recipient (CLIENT) and Atomik Cupcake Designs (ARTIST) as they pertain to the commission piece (ART).

 

ART, though requested specifically for the Client from the Artist, is still the physical property of the Artist. This means that the Artist has the exclusive right to reproduce the art in any way seen fit, with no need to ask the Client for permission. Artist has limited rights to sell the ART elsewhere for profit, as outlined below.

 

PERSONAL ART:

 

Because commission requests are unique to the Client, Client does retain intellectual rights to any specific characters rendered during the services. For such pieces, the Artist cannot reproduce the ART for profit without the express consent of the Client. Specific characters are defined as original characters which display physical attributes that set the character apart from others like it. Physical attributes must be able to be clearly identified to the Client's original character, either by description or by reference to other art, in order for the Client to retain intellectual rights to the Art's subject (for example, a rabbit with a hat might not be defined as a 'specific character,' but a rabbit with a blue dress in front of a house that says "Suzy's house" would be more definitive of an original character). If the Client has copyrighted or trademarked a character and has valid proof of such, he/she automatically retains all rights to their intellectual property regardless of the above definitions. Should the Artist wish to negotiate a contract to reproduce Art for profit, and it is agreed that the Client has intellectual rights to any of the subject matter contained within, the Client has the right to do so within his/her own terms.

 

Should the Client request a piece of art involving the copyright ideas of another pre-existing company that owns the subject matter in the form of intellectual property (Disney, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros, etc.), he or she does so at their own risk and accepts any responsibility for copyright infringement, should the company decide that that is the case. Artist will assume upon accepting such a commission that the Client has already sought the proper permission needed and therefore, the Artist accepts no personal responsibilities for third party copyright infringement.

 

Because the Art is a specific piece requested by the Client, the Client does have the right to reproduce the art FOR A NONPROFIT MEANS in any way they desire, including but not limited to posters and other physical entities, web design graphics, blogs, etc.. The Client does not need to request permission to do so from the Artist. Client may alter the design to his or her desire; in doing so, he or she acknowledges that any altercations do not change the terms and conditions set forth in these terms, and rights that originally belong to the Artist will still apply to the altered Art. The Client must ask permission to alter or remove the Artist's signature.

 

The Client does not have permission to take credit for or attempt to use the Art for personal profit gain under any circumstance. Such acts are considered a violation of these Terms and Conditions and are subject to legal action if necessary to protects the Artist's rights.

 

COMMERCIAL ART:

 

When Art is requested specifically for the purpose of using it in a for-profit manner, the Client is also paying for rights to license this art to use as he/she sees fit, including for profit in the following ways: the Client may use commercially based Art as the identity of a business in the form of websites, blogs, flyers, business cards, and merchandise. Because of the nature of commercial Art, the Artist waives all rights to reproduce it for profit, and must seek express permission from the Client wishing to do so.

 

Artist assumes no legal responsibility that may result from the purchase of commercial Art, including business profit losses, copyright infringement, and any other legal ramifications that might ever result from the Client's use of the Art. Artist assumes upon accepting such a commission that the Client has already sought any proper permissions needed to represent the subject matter of the Art, and therefore, the Artist accepts no personal responsibilities for third party copyright infringement. The Artist, as a freelance contractor, has no legal obligation to refuse work to future companies or persons in direct competition with the Client.

 

The Client does not have permission to take credit for designing the Art, and must be able and willing to supply information about the Artist in reference to the Art upon request (for example, if the Client is asked by another company for information about the artist who designed their logo, the Client should be willing to offer this information). The Artist does retain the right to display any commercial Art as a portfolio example and in other places, for personal use, as she sees fit, without permission from the Client. The Artist will provide information about the Client's company where relevant, appropriate, and possible in relation to the Art.

 

Summary of Legal Terms (in Human Terms):

 

For personal art, art is still the physical property of Atomik Cupcake Designs, so we are able to reproduce it as we see fit. In many cases, we may also be able to sell reproductions of the commission art for profit. The only time we aren't allowed to do this is if the commission you request features anything that you, the client, came up with specifically (such as an original character or theme). We call this intellectual property.

 

If it's clear that the subject of the art is something you made up, or you can show us that you have copyrighted or trademarked the subject of your commission, then you'll retain all rights to your intellectual property, and we won't be allowed to reproduce your image for profit without your permission. However, since Atomik Cupcake Designs still reserves the physical rights to the commission, it means you aren't allowed to sell any reproductions of the art for a profit, either! While we do hope you love the work, you are allowed to sell original traditionally rendered art, or the digital print if you purchased one. You may ONLY sell the original--you bought it after all! But no, you can't profit from our hard work, even if you provided the idea.

 

For commercial art, Atomik Cupcake Designs revokes most of the rights to the work. We aren't allowed to sell it for profit (outside of selling it to you, of course!) without your express permission, while you are allowed to use the images provided for profit. All that we ask is that you credit the work when applicable, and we do have the right to display it and reproduce it, as long as we aren't making additional profit from it. Also remember that if a competing company asks us to design for them too, we have no legal obligation to say no! We also hope that designing something for your business helps it out, but if that's not the case, we don't have any further responsibility or role in your company beyond designing your art.

Frequently Asked Questions:

 

 

01

What forms of payment do you accept?

 

Currently, most commissions accept PayPal, so if you don't have a PayPal account, go make one for free! It has a feature that links your account funds directly with your bank account, which works as a payment method for most people.

 

However, all items bought through our Etsy page (which does include custom tattoo designs!) can be purchased with any type of credit card as well! 

02

How does payment work?

 

In most cases, payment is made before I start your project. However, I do understand that some projects are a little pricier, and I can make some exceptions, FOR COMMERCIAL ART ONLY.

 

In those cases, I can accept a DEPOSIT of 50% of the total price of the artwork before it begins, then you can pay the remaining 50% after the project is completed. There is a 10% liability fee for dividing your payment, which will be added to the deposit. For instance, if you want a $75 business card, but can only pay for half, your deposit will be $37.50, plus the $7.50 liability fee, for a total of $45 due right away and $37.50 due later (I don't know why you would divide a $75 payment, BUT YOU GET IT).

03

How about refunds?

 

Refunds can be made if a client cancels the order. If cancelled within 5 days of the order, 100% of the amount is refundable. If cancelled within 5-10 days of the order, only 70% of what you've paid will be refunded (because I've probably started drawing it!).

 

Once the amount of time since you placed your order has exceeded 10 days, no refunds will be given, and you will be asked to pay the full amount if you haven't already done so. At this point, you are paying for my time in making your product, regardless of if you still want it or not (though I'm still giving it to you!).

 

04

What if I don't like the final product?

 

NONSENSE, YOU HAVE TO. Just kidding. =D However, there are many steps that I take to ensure that your product is exactly what you want it to be!

 

Throughout the creation process, I'll send you updates to make sure that the project is running smoothly, at which time you can give me feedback and provide any additional thoughts. During the finalization of the product, up to three revisions can be made with no additional charge. During the initial stages, one large revision can be made with no additional charge!

 

What does that mean? A large revision is if you, say, ordered a 12" painting of some blue lilies, and right before I start painting, you suddenly decide that you want roses instead. Small revisions would be if I've begun painting your roses blue, and suddenly you think a rainy background might look better than a sunny one. Or maybe one of the roses is too big, or has too many leaves.

 

My only stipulation on here: please be reasonable. Seriously. A lot of people think artists are copy machines and we can just magically generate a work of art, but it takes time...a LOT of time. What might seem like a small change to you will likely take us much longer than you think to do! I also like to ask that you leave some room for artistic license and not be TOO picky. The more freedom we have, the better your work will turn out!

 

If you exceed the amount of revisions allowed during your project, there will be an additional $10/hour fee for each revision thereafter. Please be sure to be as clear as possible when asking for revisions so that I know exactly what you expect of me. We all win that way!

 

What I'm saying here is that we're willing to go through a lot to make you happy, and I GUARANTEE that you will love your product, or I will keep slaving away on it until you do!

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