Artists, designers, illustrators and licensing agencies have already begun to make plans for their involvement in Surtex 2013, the premier art licensing show of the year. According to show management, Surtex will return to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City from May 19-21, 2013. [More]

It’s been a slow and sluggish three years since the retail disaster of the 2008 Christmas buying season, when retail sales declined precipitously, retailers were stuck with inventory they couldn’t sell and in most cases couldn’t return, and their suppliers – our art licensees – faced reduced demand, shrinking consumer confidence, and general confusion about what to do going forward. The crisis on Wall Street toward the end of 2008 had been long in coming.  Wh... [More]

For all the talk these past few years about harnessing the power of social media to promote your business, your products or your art, when it comes down to it, many people don’t know much about social media at all.  Of those who do, many if not most don’t understand how they can use social media to make themselves and their businesses and products better known and in the process, increase their income. Networking Can Work For You! Very briefly, the term “social media&r... [More]

According to the Illustrators' Partnership Orphan Works Blog, "a list of illustrators, designers and photographers has been made public who may now claim their reprographic fees." At issue was a million dollar lawsuit brought by the Graphic Artist Guild against the Illustrators' Partnership that was dismissed by the New York State Supreme Court when it was discovered that the Guild had collected over a million dollars in royalties on behalf of the illustrators who created the works, yet had nev... [More]

People go to all sorts of lengths to raise the position of their sites on major search engines like Google, here and abroad. Searching for backlinks  One thing they do to try to optimize their search engine placement is to plant phony comments to articles on blog sites.  If their comment appears online, then the link  behind their name - almost always the site they are trying to promote - will register as a 'back link' to their site and thereby help their site rise in the ranki... [More]

What to paint?  It’s a question I’m often asked by representational artists.  Just as often, my suggestion is: paint Christmas subjects. The month that begins the day after Thanksgiving and lasts until late on Christmas Eve is the busiest buying season of the year. Do What Makes Sense! It always makes sense to paint to where the money is.  Christmas is a rich source of sales and of licenses for compelling artwork.  Even after the retail sales crash over Christma... [More]

    I know this title sounds like a John Grisham mystery, and while runaway licenses do have elements of mystery in them they're anything but fiction. Unfortunately, they do exist, and they can be difficult to deal with, very difficult to control, but not always that difficult to extricate oneself from with some persistence. Here's What It Is     A "runaway license", very simply, is a license that has somehow spun ... [More]

If you come upon unauthorized use of your artwork on the internet, there's a straightforward way under the law to seek the removal of the artwork. The Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) states that while an Internet Service Provider (ISP) is not liable for transmitting information that may infringe a copyright, the ISP must remove materials from users’ Web sites that appear to constitute copyright infringement after it receives proper notice from the copyright holder. Attorney Ca... [More]

Quite a Show! Surtex 2011 is over.  277 companies and individual artists participated in the show and in the process exhibited the works of over a thousand artists for viewing by almost 6,000 visitors representing manufacturers, retailers and developers of products destined for retail sale in every level of retail outlet from high end to low. This year’s edition of Surtex had 23% more exhibitors than last year, and Surtex is projecting the total number of exhibitors in next year&rs... [More]

This is the title of an intelligent and helpful article by David Bushell in Smashing Magazine online.  David is a senior website designer and front-end developer who blogs regularly at http://dbushell.com/. His article covers the in's and out's of copyrights and licensing both in the US and UK.  Topics covered include copyright and licensing, 'fair use', 'public domain', legal jurisdiction, license terminology, Creative Commons, and other basics of licensing. While the article was w... [More]

About a year ago, AdaPia d'Errico created a blog on Tumblr, the free and easy-to-use blog site, to promote the artistic works of her sister, Camilla, a talented Canadian artist, illustrator and cartoonist.  As the blog developed, AdaPia began to diverge from solely promoting the art of her sister and of other bold and creative artists, to writing insightful and intelligent pieces on the business of art licensing.  I came across AdaPia's work recently when I began a Tumblr blog orient... [More]

Cutting back on the use of creative, inspirational and compelling artwork is not an effective strategy for manufacturers during an economic downturn. [More]

Guest blogger and noted licensing professional Linda Mariano gives her Top 10 Checklist for how to get moving in art licensing. [More]

If you're planning to exhibit at Surtex or the National Stationery Show for the very first time, the tips in this posting may help make the experience easier, less expensive and more effective. [More]

What can you do when you discover that someone has used your artwork on their internet site without your permission? I'll tell you simple steps you can take to handle the situation and have your artwork removed. [More]

An artist was shown a calendar that had been put together by individuals at a local church. It contained works of art from a variety of artists, with no attribution of authorship of the works or copyright notifications. Such a discovery raises the question of what one should do when confronted with obvious copyright infringement. What would you do if you found your artwork copied without your permission by someone on the internet or on retail products? Here are some suggestions. [More]

More often than not, when you're ignored or rejected by a possible licensee, it isn't about you and it's isn't your art. There are other factors at play. Read on... [More]

An increasing number of companies are purchasing their product lines "off the shelves" at special shows in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and then bringing those products over here to sell to retailers. They're not only out-sourcing product development, they're out-sourcing art development as well, and it doesn't make good sense to do that. This article tells you why. [More]

Janet Stever's charming "Snuggle in the Snow" image got total placement on the cover of Carson Industries' 2011 Fall/Holiday catalog for flags, mailbox wraps, floor mats and related seasonal products.  Click on the title to this posting to see the image. Can't do better than the cover.  Congratulations Janet! - - - -  (c) Lance J. Klass.  All Rights Reserved.  This article may not be reproduced with the expressed written permissio... [More]

Smart Retailer Magazine is worthwhile following for anyone who is interested in licensing their artwork. [More]