@Thorvald: That's a good idea, I'll try that. Thank you for the suggestion!
@Casteso || Journal Entry
Trying New Things
10 Feb 2024, 07:07 AM
Oof, didn't really have the time this week to draw so we're doing a journal instead! Mostly just me rambling about stuff :D
I'm a little nervous right now because I'm currently signed up to sell stickers and prints at two events in the future. This is the first time I'm selling things in person, and while I have most of the things ready for them, I'm still stressed out about a few things. It's also my first time selling fanart officially, and while I already talked to people about the dos and don'ts of selling it, I'm just afraid I'm gonna be slapped with a lawsuit or something(I'm probably just being over dramatic, especially since I'm planning on selling only two products of fanart with the rest of it being original works, but STILL). Another thing I've been having a difficult time deciding is if I should include stickers of an oc of mine. They were originally an adoptable from Deviantart, and I have written permission from the artist I have commercial rights to the character/any artwork I make of the character as long as I credit them as the designer. Normally this wouldn't a problem online since I can just put the credits in the description/most internet users know what adoptables are. The problem though is that the main crowd at the events I'm selling at don't know what adoptables are and I'm worried that they'll see the credit and assume I stole the artwork. Obviously, I don't want to leave out the credit for the original artist because that wouldn't be fair to them, but I don't want to spend 5-10 minutes explaining to each person that comes by why that credit is there/what adoptables are(Or them assuming I'm selling stolen artwork and losing sales because of that). If anyone has experience with selling at artist allies, how would you go about this? Is selling art of adoptables you own too much of a hassle?
Despite that, I'm still excited though! I'm putting myself out there more, and trying to work on not being afraid of being noticed by people. I've even done things like Artfight(which was super fun minus the last two weeks LOL), set up commissions, and just getting back into doing art again.
Full disclosure: I have zero business acumen and have never dealt with adoptables. However,
I would think a simple trademark text like "Based on/Original design by..." on the sticker itself should cover attribution. If anyone asks, you needn't give a crash course on adopts, just say you own marketing rights to the character. Keeping a copy of the letter on hand should satisfy people that insist on probing the legalese, though at that point they're probably looking to start trouble.
That said, my rule of thumb is: If your gut feeling is you don't want the hassle, give it a pass this round, especially if this is your first live retail and you're already antsy with everything else.