Fascinating read from Marty (Off-Topic)

by Leviathan , Hotel Zanzibar, Monday, August 04, 2014, 19:04 (3763 days ago) @ Claude Errera

This isn't really Destiny-related (or even Halo-related)... but it's a pretty interesting read. GamesIndustry.biz interviewed Marty about the concept of 'work-for-hire' - and his thoughts are worth checking out.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-08-04-work-for-hire-hits-the-wrong-notes

As a freelance illustrator, I can definitely understand these feelings. "Work-for-hire" is an evil word to me, and yet it's the only work I can usually get in-industry.

The literary side of illustration, as in folks who get work with New Yorker, National Geographic and so forth, they seem to have made it over the hump of work-for-hire and now there's a lot more respectable expectations when it comes to contract. You get more for reprints, you can retain original non-exclusive rights, you'll get paid in a fair amount of time, etc. You don't just sell your art forever to a company for them to do as they please as is common with most genre illustration and popular comic book work. There are artists and writers who created characters that Disney or Warner Bros are making millions on right now that are getting nothing. Sometimes they don't even get credited. Look up Bill Finger or why Image Comics was created for more on that...

Of course work-for-hire and that idea of losing most of your rights to a bigger entity wouldn't be as scary sounding if it was assuaged by a payment worthy of such a compromise. But again, genre-illustration hands out the most paltry of sums unless your name is recognizable across the field. When I've sat down and figured out my finances, my work from in-industry has been, compared to the hours spent on the work, less than minimum wage, sometimes much less. And since freelancing is not consistent, you can go months with no work. One of my career goals right now is to just try and get somewhere close to the poverty line of my state with art. But that seems very far away!

I'm still waiting on payment from a company I worked for a year ago now - and it could be even longer till I get it. The way these work-for-hire contracts are formed are all in the benefit of the employer, and there's loopholes that continue to keep them and their investments safe. And if you want to negotiate or play hardball to get a fairer contract? You lose because there's a thousand other hungry freelance artists who are just like you and trying to get their foot in the door. Some of the art directors I've spoken to talk as if they're doing you favor by even reaching out to you. Imagine the feeder at the aquarium and a thousand gulping fish wanting one or two of the jobs they drop in...

I don't mind a challenge. I understand art and entertainment is a crazy industry and ridiculously competitive. But many employers take advantage of that. Getting a job was hard - earning a fair wage for it seems even harder. That's the absurd part I'm trying to point out.

And this is all another reason I'm making my comic, Mayflower. If I'm going to starve, I might as well starve making something I can pour my heart in.