To be honest there isn't actually much of a contract, is just a document where you summarize or expand more the most frequent asked questions regarding your services. In most cases there are no lawyers involved, since its mostly an exchange of a service from one particular individual to another.
Lawyers and legal stuff is something you should check out if you're actually working for a Business, a Brand or Company. And these are likely for long term jobs, not a one time thing.
Most of the time, you'll have individuals making commissions and they will likely just check your terms, hope for you to deliver on time and either pay before starting or after you finished the piece.
For example, mine looks like this and you can access it while ordering my services at Ko-Fi. Some artists have a Carrd page and a section about their terms and instructions, others use their own websites, Google document and such, whatever is comfortable to you.
Red Lenai's Instructions before commissioning and Terms of Use
Instructions
READ BEFORE COMMISSIONING:
Please provide the following information about the things to be drawn:
- Character
- Body pose (YCH may be limited)
- Facial expression
- Background (If available, added)
Due to my workload and past viruses experiences, please avoid sending several links or long walls of text. I don't mind written text or a collage of images for as long it is to describes the appearance of the character. Please attach the files within the commission and avoid redirectioning outside Ko-Fi
Lore, likes, dislikes, early life, powers, allies, enemies, backstory and such are not required if they are not part of the context in which the character will be drawn
Any inquiries regarding what can be drawn or not, please ask before making your order and make it sure it follows Ko-Fi's guidelines. Make sure to know what you'd like to commission before making your order, as I will work with what has been provided in it, composition or character cannot be changed entirely regardless of status of the commission.
I usually share the finished piece on Social Media, so please clarify to me if:
- Your commission is private or public
- If I have to wait to a certain date (Birthday, Anniversary, Debut, etc)
- If you'd like to be tagged, mentioned or keep the commission anonymous.
The final product is on PNG format, please clarify to me if:
- White or Transparent background (In case the Background Add-On wasn't requested)
- You'd like a PSD file with the unmerged layers. (I usually merge them, so make sure to request this beforehand)
Please DO answer and clarify all the points previously mentioned to properly work in your commission
Preferred Communication and Delivery Method:
Email: RedLenai20@gmail.com or Ko-Fi private messages.
TERMS OF USE
There is no extra charge for commercial or personal use regarding the commissions, you can use it however you want, print it, make merch, promotions, etc. After the payment is done, and the work is finished, the drawing will be sent and belong to the client.
Due to my workload as a webcomic artist, I may be limited and not know exactly the amount of time commissions may take. However, each type of commission has their own estimated time of delivery (Please read the information at the moment of making your order and following the Instructions)
Commissions are revised or sent to the client's E-Mail, then posted to Ko-Fi. Commissions become public eventually accordying to the queue of programmed posts on my socials, the client is free to publish their commission whenever and however they want. Still, it is encouraged to post the JPEG with watermark version to avoid art theft, tracing, editing or AI feeding from strangers online.
You can check the stage of commissions on Trello
https://trello.com/b/YzphUlPo/redlenais-to-do-list
I won’t change the type of commission nor accept extra payment in hopes of the client to finish the product faster.
If I hadn’t been able to work on the commission yet, it’s because there are other clients before you or I didn't have time to work on it yet.
REFUNDS POLICY
- I won’t accept refunds or corrections requests after delivering the finished product.
- I only allow refunds if I cannot work in the commission at all, due to health or matters of force majeure
- Once I started with the commission, you cannot refund it, unless it is still on the rough sketch phase.
I take the time to make revisions through the stages of the commission and communicate them to the client (rough sketch, sketch, lineart, color, shading) so please make sure to make the proper corrections according to each stage of the commission.
Remember to provide an E-Mail to send the finished files, and if needed a Social Media account to tag you (If you’d like to)