An artist agreement template is what a small business reaches for when it commissions work, an illustration for packaging, a mural, a logo, a photograph, a piece of music for a launch, and realises that the fee is the least of what has to be written down. Who owns the work, what the business may do with it, how many revisions the fee covers, whether the artist is credited and when the money is paid are the clauses a handshake leaves open and a dispute closes expensively. This page walks the template from the business's side: the brief, the ownership or licence, the payment as figures, revisions and credit, and the record after delivery.
The brief and the ownership question
The brief describes the work, the format and the delivery date, and the agreement says what happens if the brief changes. Ownership is the clause to decide first: under US copyright law the artist owns the work unless the agreement assigns it or it qualifies as a work made for hire, so a business that needs to own the logo writes an assignment, and a business that only needs to use the illustration on one product line takes a licence with a scope. The licence route is cheaper and the assignment route is cleaner; the agreement says which.
The payment, as figures
A commission is priced as a fee, sometimes with a rate for extra hours, and paid as a deposit at signing, a milestone on sketches or a draft, and the balance on delivery. The services agreement worksheet on this site works the same shape: a fee, a deposit share, the balance over milestones on payment terms, and a late charge if the balance runs overdue. On the worked example a $12,000 engagement with a 25% deposit leaves $9,000 in three milestones of $3,000. Revisions covered by the fee are counted, two rounds or three, and further rounds carry the rate.
Credit, kill fee and the record
Credit says whether and how the artist is named; a kill fee says what is paid if the business cancels after work has started; usage says whether the artist may show the work in a portfolio. After delivery the agreement is the record of what the business may do with the work and until when, which matters years later when the packaging is redesigned. Termslane Pro keeps the artist agreement against the artist with its terms, versions and dates and exports it; the US Copyright Office is the reference for what the ownership clause means.
Questions people ask about artist agreement template
Who owns commissioned artwork?
The artist, under US copyright law, unless the agreement assigns the copyright or the work qualifies as a work made for hire. A business that needs ownership writes an assignment; one that needs use writes a licence with a scope.
How is an artist commission usually paid?
A deposit at signing, a milestone on a draft or sketches, and the balance on delivery, with a stated number of revision rounds included and a rate for more. The worksheet works the deposit, the milestones and the late charge from your figures.
What is a kill fee?
The amount paid to the artist if the business cancels the commission after work has begun, often a share of the fee tied to the stage reached. It belongs in the agreement so cancellation is a figure rather than an argument.