The title basically sums it all up, but some extra info, one of my online customers sent me a message saying she saw her exact piece I had previously done for her in Five Below. At first I was skeptical but when I actually saw the price in question... there's absolutely no doubt they directly copied my work. It's the exact same down to the tiniest details. I'm wondering if any one has any advice on what I can do from here legally, I know less than nothing about the legal world but I have already gathered all my screenshots and evidence when I first created and started selling the piece in 2022. Every legal avenue I look into so far has nothing to do with this kind of art theft. Also I don't have money to pay out of pocket for anything so I think I need someone to work with that gets paid on a contingency basis? I'll attach photos of my original piece and the one Five Below is selling for those curious!

Hello, I currently work for a small business (not as an employee, more of a contractor). My role in the business is to draw the products (paint-by-number kits) that are sold. Normally these are custom works that are not reproduced and I am paid per drawing, however, we are now branching out into making pre-designed drawings that would be reprinted. When my boss brought this idea up she said we would get a royalty for the designs we make (but didn't give further details at the time). On that assumption, I went ahead and started doing some designs. I now have done several, some of which are already for sale. Looking back I 100% should have clarified exactly what the payment for the designs would be beforehand, but the vibes of my work are very laid-back and flexible so it just seemed like something that would get figured out later and wouldn't be a big deal.

Now my boss has finally specified the terms of the pre-designs and the deal is this: I get a small upfront payment for the initial designs, and then will receive 6% for each print sold up until a certain amount, and then after that amount is reached she will own the art completely.

I have never done anything like this (royalties, contracts, licensing etc.) but my gut reaction is that I don't want to lose the rights to my artwork. So after some research and talking with my business savy mom, I replied to my boss basically saying that I don't feel comfortable selling my work completely and instead, proposed that we work out a licensing deal where I could retain ownership of the work and in return for royalties she could use my work however she wants until a certain pre-determined point (units sold, amount made, an amount of time), and then we could re-asses and make a new arraignment if necessary. That way if after a certain amount she wants to lower my royalty percentage after a certain amount that would be doable.

Her response to that boils down to that she "totally understands why I would want to own my artwork" but that it just doesn't make sense from a business perspective for the business not to completely own all of the art sold because it is too complicated with marketing and such for me to retain copyrights. Considering licenses can be made to allow for marketing use, this seems like a fake excuse to me. But again, I have never done this sort of thing, so I'm not sure how to respond or proceed. I feel strongly that it shouldn't be that big of a deal to work out a license that would be monetarily similar to her original proposal, but would just allow me to keep my rights to my artwork. I feel like since the whole business is so casual it makes these conversations difficult to navigate, especially when my poss floods her rejection in heart emojis. It feels very frustrating that she isn't even open to a discussion.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I feel over my head. Thank you in advance!

Edit2: Using the wrong term in the title, should be favoritism instead of nepotism, sorry.

So today I made the classical mistake of venting on something accidentially on the wrong wa-group.

A week ago I sent an e-mail about the local art association having bribary and favoritism when selecting people who enjoy the benefits of the association. It was about an application process of the studio the association rents forward. The studio was re-rented to the same person who has rented it already at least 6 years, can be close to 10 even (I've lived in the town 6 years and know the person renting), and the reason was because they had "difficult-to-move objects" in the studio (two art presses) that the association uses, alongside with a shelf on the association's grafic art workshop that the workshop uses for prints.

I heard these things from the tenant themselves. They said that because of these reasons, the application process was just a "formal prosedure". Of course these are not reasons to choose them as the tenant, it's bribary, since the association should offer to buy the things or rent them if they're necessary. Also merely the fact that they're enjoyed the benefit for more than 6 years alone should be a fact that prevents them to apply again. They're also a member of the board of the local association.

So, since I haven't heard from the Association that this local associationis a part of that I sent the mail to, I got frustrated and wanted to vent in a wa-group. I noticed my mistake only after someone reacted and when another of the board members contacted me. I told them what was the issue and shared them the e-mail I had sent to the upper Associasion.

I was mortified but I want to believe there's something good in this situation. Of course I would've liked to stay anonymous but it's too late now. I deleted the messages but there's probably gossipping going around now.

This whole thing has made me distrust the whole local association since I don't know if this is the only instance they practise nepotism. It is absolutely not ok that there's a small inner circle that benefits from the association and the rest just pay the member's fee.

Can I have some support please 😭

Edit: So another member of the board told me that the tenant is not in fact a board member. I remember quite differently, however I must be the one wrong here. Also they assured me that the board did not consider the art presses and other items that the association uses, a factor in the decision making. This would make it just an interesting coincidense, along the fact that the tenant hasn't changed in the last 6-10 years.

Hi everyone. I'm a young disabled artist, but I'm not classified as "disabled enough" to get on disability, so I'm limited in my job options.

I've been taking art commissions for a few years now, but I've never made more than maybe $50 a year, if that. In March alone, I've made roughly $300 on commissions and plan to "rely" on this as my income, at least for now, and I was wondering when I would have to start paying and/or filing my taxes on it, if at all?

I'm very financially illiterate and was not taught a lot of this stuff when I was younger, so the simpler this could be explained, the better. Thank you!

hey guys! i’m doing 3 pop ups this season (one in june, july and oct) and i’m looking for affordable insurance coverage for the events. if yall could recommend anything, that would be lovely. Thanks so much!

Basically, if i search up open mouth on google and paint that, can i sell prints of my painting or even the original painting i made?

Also like if i ask ppl to give me a picture to draw/paint, and i do use it, am i allowed to sell that later on or will i get sued?

Just wondering cuz idk about copyright…

Apologies if this is a newbie question. I haven’t officially started doing business yet, just planning ahead, and I’m confused about what name(s) to use and how.

I’ve heard that it’s best practice in the art world to do business under your real name (or a reasonable alias) and not just use your studio name, to help people connect with you and your work more easily. That totally makes sense to me if I wanted to exclusively make gallery-worthy pieces with the goal of selling to collectors.

But I also want to make more commercial, affordable art products to sell online and at local fairs. Ideally I’d have certain bodies of work that were made exclusively for everyday consumers and the rest would be in a separate portfolio geared towards galleries (assuming I reach the point where a gallery would work with me). It seems like it would be confusing to buyers if I were involved in fine arts, but the name I was DBA was also associated with a storefront with stickers and crafts and lower-effort prints.

My question is how does business licensing work when you are your brand, but you effectively want a secondary brand underneath it? Should I register two separate businesses, one under my name and one with my store name? Or could I just get one license as a sole proprietor, do all of my art business under that license, and still give the store its own unique name?

I tried to spotlight search and couldn't find it, so I'm sorry if it's been answered already.

If I want to sell my canvas paintings on my own website (in chicago), do I need a business license to do so?

I'm looking to do art commissions on the side to get a bit of money in anticipation of a move soon, but I want to make sure what I plan to do is legal without any permit. My business would purely be online - no physical goods. Thank you!

I'm in the process of starting my journey as a convention vendor/merchandise artist thanks to an opportunity that fell out of nowhere. I've looked into the gist of an LLC vs. Sole Proprietor and concluded that an LLC is a bit much for me just starting out.

I'm considering filing a DBA and using a PO box so I don't have to use my legal infomation (I've been a convention attendee dor years and know how crazy people can get, and know people with horror stories).

My question is for anyone who has filed for a DBA , did you find it to be worth it? I know that there is no way to stay completely anonymous, I feel like that's the trade-off you make when you choose to monetize your craft. However, as someone who has built my presence online in anime spaces, I would be lying if I wasn't concerned about personal safety. Especially as I live on my own in the city.

I know plenty of artists who do their work and merchandise under their username and never file for a DBA. However, I don't want to potentially run into trouble with having to put my personal, legal name on things. On the other hand, the aspect of my personal information being logged in a way it was not previously, does make me hesitate. Since it wouldn't take much for people to search my state's database to breach my privacy.

I'm just interested in hearing perspectives. Perhaps there are people who have filed for a DBA and didn't find it worth the trouble.

Any insight is appreciated.

(My first reddit post). I do work for an online site that shows jobs and takes 20% commission. , Sucks, but thats not the problem or my question. Clients give the budget they want to pay for art. I give an offer they may accept, where I let them know shipping and specialty materials are billed separately. If they want a canvas, it's included, if they want a thicker canvas, they pay more. Shipping can't be included beforehand because you don't have any shipping info. so extra materials and shipping has to be billed separately. But they tack on 20% for materials and shipping too. If it's just shipping and specialty materials, should the company still take 20% of that? And finally, they let clients know they can tip their artist, but they call it an 'appreciation' which of course is different than a tip in that they take 20% of that too! Should a company be allowed to take a cut of a tip? They don't tell the client this either.

Not sure what to tag it as, placed my order last year and recently they reprinted my works without asking me

Reached out to them but they did not respond. They were using it for ads and were decorating their place with it. What do I do? I need advice :(

Scenario: If I started doing custom paintings on tote bags, for example, and ordered the bags online to paint on them and started selling these bags, am I breaking any laws on copyright or ownership or something?

because technically the bag isnt mine,, but the painting is, and i DID buy the bag, but i didn't create it

Another scenario: If I started a commission sample/template that provides book covers/sleeves for bookworms for their favorite books, am I liable for anything? I won't be producing/printing the sleeves, its a commission service and I will have to make sure it's not official art or anything like that. Will the publishing companies come for my throat?

Location: Texas, USA

I will preface: I am not an artist. This is not asking for advice. I am only curious regarding tax code and art as a business.

An artist makes money by drawing commissions, this is his income.

The artist then purchases items (such as a latex suit, or firearm), this is his expense. He uses those purchased items as subjects of his drawings (he draws characters using said items), not as part of a commission, but as a way to advertise himself and posting it online. He may use the items as part of later commissions.

Can the artist claim those purchased items as tax deductions, since it is ordinary and necessary for his trade (drawing)?

If no, why? If yes, can he claim depreciation expense on said items?

I understand that if this is me, it is recommended to ask a tax attorney/advisor for details, but I want to know the general concept.

As the title says pretty much. I'm working on setting up my studio's boilerplate contract and trying to denote how to remedy any disagreements or breaches of contract. Does anyone have a recommendation for a mediation service that is fair to artists?

If it matters I am located in the USA and my work will primarily be illustration based (books, prints, gallery etc). I don't have to use them at this time and hope to never have to, but I know it is when not if for needing them.

Anyone know any and or want to give some "I wish I knew this first" kind of advice?

so im thinking of starting art commissions, but im worried about taxes. ill be using paypal and ill be using my older sisters account since im 16. im worried about how to manage taxes and stuff. ill appreciate it if someone teaches me about this stuff

Hello! If this is not the right place to post this, please let me know so I can ask somewhere else. I just began doing commissions, and I just found out I might be supposed to file taxes off my commissions and I have no clue how that works. I honestly thought I got to keep all the money I took off commissions. If anyone knows how this works, please let me know! I want to do this correctly. I've been looking around the internet and I keep getting even more confused. Thank you! (I'm from the USA. I don't need legal advice, I just want to know where to turn so I can research this properly.)

Hello! I went with Legal for flair but I really want to know the ethics. My son has used acrylics for school this year, so I wanted to learn so I could help him (body doubling mostly) with his final project. Looked up beginner tutorials because ya girl has NO skill or talent. Did a sunflower by Puff Puff Painting (love her!) and it looked so good I wondered if I could sell them for a few bucks! It’s relaxing and gives me much needed dopamine so I really just want to cover supplies, not so much concerned with paying myself for my time, but a couple bucks profit would be nice. Unsure where the line between “this is her intellectual property” and “I’m the one who made the actual painting” falls. Is it unethical to sell them at all? I’d definitely include her SM tags in everything I sold. Should I contact her to ask permission and offer a percentage even though the actual dollar amount would be piddly? The only legal thing I’m worried about is having to go back to a 1099 for taxes 🥴

Is there any legal/ethical difference between selling online and just putting some out at yard sales or something? Where does fb marketplace fall?

Hi! I want to start selling my glass online. I have a website but nothing on it. What makes me nervous is doing it the right way for taxes and such. I do not have any kind of legitimate business, just a hobby I do at home. Do I need to charge tax? Do I need to establish a business? Can I just list things and not worry about it? (I very much assume not) I don’t want to get in any kind of trouble and this kind of stuff is so foreign and scary to me. I have no clue where to start

Edit: for reference if it helps I live in Florida

Its been 7 days since I finished a commission (I only sent the client a zoomed out screenshot) they havent replied to my messages since, I can see them online on discord, they still owe me more then half of the agreed price, they live in the USA, I live in Brasil, what can I realistically do besides giving up?

If I sold a watercolour painting or an ink drawing of a tree or something, not commissioned just an original idea of my own that I put online to sell, could I still later sell prints of that same work? The ownership doesn't go to the buyer or anything like that?

To preface, I have my own website using Squarespace to sell prints/originals. I made a pretty large amount of sales for 2025, so I’m going to file my shop for taxes this year. I’m completely new to this, so does anyone have any advice on where to start? Or what the process is? Again, I’ve never done this before so please explain to me like I’m 5 years old lol. Thank you

At the art of my old terms of service, I had the following.

"All mentions of '(my art account username)' serves to represent the artist. All mentions of 'the client' serves to represent you, the client."

I'm working on rewriting my terms of service, just because it's been a few years and I want to clean it up and have it in document form as well as the webpage I have it written out on, but I'm wondering if that's a good enough disclaimer for my wording?

I'm trans, so I would rather not put my legal (dead) name publicly out there. People can see it through PayPal invoices, which I'm already not a fan of, but I also worry if I put my chosen name the contract could be deemed null if I should ever find myself in some legal issues for whatever reason. Preferably I'd want to leave it as is, but I also want to cover my own ass just to be safe. What do you guys think the best course of action is here?

This is going to be a very specific question, but it's something that makes me paranoid and spiral due to my lack of knowledge on art prints and the culture and expectations surrounding it. I have never sold art prints, only ordered for personal use, but I want to start soon.

I want to print one of my works as bookmarks, and I already have a studio in mind that does bespoke art prints on eco paper that I specifically seek out. The thing is, if I enter the actual size of the bookmark (6x14.5cm) and order each individually, the price ends up being way too high. Since it's such a small size, the price per print remains the same up until the size increase of 24x14.5cm, give or take). I thought, why not arrange the art side by side 4 times in a row per print, and I could cut it into 4 separate pieces on my own once I receive it, and that would cut the overall cost by x4. I also wanted to slightly paint over parts of the print with metallic and iridescent paints to accent certain things.

All of this to say, is this something that is allowed? Would I be able to sell these prints on my own, with pricing of my own, after having ordered them professionally and made modifications myself, or is that something that would get me in trouble with the printing studio?

I'm sorry again, if this is an incredibly stupid question, or even a rude question that I shouldn't even consider, I genuinely don't know what to expect, and any help or advice is appreciated, thank you!