Child labor laws make working while younger than 18 quite complex.
Here are the rules for California (where Tap is based out of).
https://www.dir.ca.gov/DLSE/ChildLaborLawPamphlet.pdf1
Page 3 I suppose. In short, if Tap ever allowed minors to work officially for them (either as contract workers or employees) there are a bunch of forms to fill out for both parties and Tap would have to be checked out by a state office.
More trouble than it's worth. Just wait a few years until you're legal. ^^
Sorry, I'm just looking for clarification on a question covered by the FAQ! If you are an artist/writer duo, should you apply under a Tapas account of one of the individuals, or should you make a "duo account" for lack of a better term?
Because of the co-production agreement one would be approached with if chosen for the Creator Incubator program, selling physical copies at a convention is something that would be discussed during negotations.
Providing links to other social media sites allows us to get a better sense of you as an artist and as a person. This program is about forming partnerships with creators, it's not just about the story. You can definitely link your dA account and/or create a new social media page.
^^^ 
Works created in the Creator Incubator are co-productions, meaning both the creator and Tapas have ownership.
The best way to include this extra information is to incorporate it into the full synopsis.
On the same form, you can include both Tapas account names.
A friendly reminder for everyone to please read the FAQ5 before posting questions in the thread.
Thank you for making it clear up front that the creators in the program will have zero control over their content. Personally, not something I'm interested in, but it's good to know for those who are.
Instead of rushing into conclusions i think is better to ask.
A shared ownership doesn`t neccesarily mean a complete loss of control. Anyway, as you said, is always wise to read the contracts no matter how much you trust/distrust someone.
About questions for @STAFF
How much involvement does the Tapas Staff has in the developing of the story and the route it takes?.
I'm a bit curious as to how you took "zero control" from "meaning both the creator and Tapas have ownership". Those sound like two completely different things.
I mean, I understand the concern because of previous troubles with other companies doing similar programs and not delivering the benefits to their creators. But we should still ask for more info before we come to a conclusion.
As @DiegoPalacios noted, you can definitely ask for more details on what "co-production ownership" means in the case of Tapas. Even if I myself won't enter (college and internships, for my reason), I would like to make sure they elaborate a bit more to help stop any misconceptions and to make sure others feel safe in partnering with them. Let's not strictly assume that the creator will not have any control over their work through the Incubator Program. If anything, it sounds more like
"You still have control and still have rights to your story, but we also have some input as well." -- which kinda sounds like what a lot of novel/comics companies negotiate to their creators.
@DiegoPalacios I'm in touch with two current Incubator creators and as far as I know, their stories as they are producing them now are pretty close to their original pitches. Unless you really need help and ask (or I guess if you have something problematic in the story that needs to be addressed), I think Tapas only asserts control over the story when it comes to when to start locking episodes, when to start uploading, and logistical stuff like that; perhaps pacing too, to meet the season length target.
No jumping to conclusions. Just wait until there is something you want to do with your work... create prints or books or other artwork, make cute things like keychains, plushies, etc... advertise it... have the story go in a different direction than you originally intended...
And then realize you aren't allowed to do any of those things.
Like I said, for some people that's fine. But I personally can't imagine not being able to do what I want with my work when I want. For me, loss of any control is the same as zero control.
Another conclusion, let`s turn it into a question......
¿Do the creators have a choice in the matter when it comes to merchandising, printing books, advertising, etc?...
I respect that. Is up to you if you prefer to work on your own or with somebody else. Some people prefer absolute control and will do the logystic work by themselves (and hire services when needed).
Wish you the best on your projects!
Creators should have absolute choice in regards to all of those things.
I'm not sure how making speculations is making "conclusions". Two completely different things. I just think it is important for creators to know exactly what they are getting into before they get into it. In this case, from what it sounds like, you will be making the story and the art, but at the end of the day, Tapas will make the decisions about what happens to your story and art.
Look at it this way... say you make your comic and then Tapas decides to make a deal with a publisher that you don't like. For me, that would be Viz. So say Tapas decides to publish my comic with Viz, but then Viz sees that there's a panel of my comic that doesn't adhere to PG-13 standards. Instead of changing the rating, Viz instead asks Tapas if they can censor the panel. Tapas has the full right to say okay on that even though I am someone who personally is against censorship of any sort and would never allow that to happen to my comic.
Again, SPECULATION. Theoretically COULD/MIGHT happen. But creators should be aware when they sign a contract that this situation could be considered okay within the contract and if they don't want it to happen, then they should negotiate the contract or walk out on the deal.
This exact situation happened with the creators of Cyanide and Happiness. They actually walked out on a TV show deal because they couldn't negotiate the contract and were not given enough control over their content.
In my experience as a premium creator, Tapas are very respectful of artistic intent and care a lot about its creators.
But if the program doesn't sound like a good deal to you, that's that. Just don't apply.
Creators almost always follow their original pitch and we'll usually jump in if there are pacing issues (because of the 24-25 episode length) but the direction of the story is in the hands of the creator. Our involvement ranges from being a sounding board for ideas to being a creator's personal cheering squad.
A co-production with us is typically 50/50 ownership. It's a partnership. If a deal is approached that a creator isn't okay with, we don't pursue it.
pinned globally May 22, '18
Actually, writers can participate if they have an artist partner. I made a forum for artists and writer to get together so they can enter the incubator program, check it out!
I very recently (as in a month ago) started posting an original comic. When I heard about the incubator program I knew I wanted to apply, but was unsure if I would be eligible because I have already started posting my comic. However, I know I would be able to post more frequent, better chapters with the resources this program offers.
Thanks for any clarity you provide!