absolutely no idea how to go about divvying up responsibilities or
costs for this kind of thing. Who pays for what--and when?
Well, Tamra - you sell it, and they buy it. Not quite so simple, but
almost. Speaking as a businessman - not a lawyer - it’s not that
complicated. If they pay you for the design and model making, then
they own the design and the models. If they have a design (like a
logo) already, then they already own the rights to that. All of
which is nailed down by verbal or written contract - to some degree
you can both do as you wish, if it’s negotiated and agreed upon.
After your design (the actual piece, not just the concept) is in
place, then you just sell them to the buyers at a price that you
derive in the usual ways - cost, labor, profit, etc.
What you may find with charities (churches are notorious for it) is
that they expect YOU to be charitable in your business. That’s up to
you, but to me business is business. They might want you to come up
with the model without pay and just want to buy the product. I
wouldn’t do that, but if you do then you own the model. They also
might cry poor and want breaks on the per piece price, but that’s
also not gonna happen around here. It’s just business, regardless of
their being “a cause”. Also - I wouldn’t get into a royalty in lieu
of profit agreement in a million years.
Anything like, “We’ll give you a percentage if and when it flies”.
Usually, they don’t fly - let them take the risks, and yes you may
miss out on a million-dollar phenomenon. But probably you won’t.
Ditto for “Make us 100 pieces, and we’ll pay you as they sell.” No,
here’s your 100 pieces, pay me. There’s no reason on Earth for you
to shoulder their risk.
The distinction is: someone brings you their logo (which they own
the rights to) and you make a lapel pin. They pay you for it, and
they own the model, meaning they can take that model and have it
manufactured anywhere they like. If you do the work on spec, then
you own the model and they can’t have it made elsewhere - but you
can’t make it for anyone but them, because they own the rights to
the artwork. Since I have no use for somebody else’s logo pin, I
expect to be paid for the models, even though they aren’t
constrained to deal with me. that is, again, unless you have a
contract saying otherwise.
I hope that’s fairly clear - I’m not a lawyer, I’m just talkiing
about the common-sense ways that we’ve done that sort of work in the
past. Basically, you make a model/original/approved design, and then
you sell it to the client. The fact that they are a cause, or a sect,
or a religion has nothing to do with anything. It’s still jewelry.