Lots of people wonder if publishers allow artists to do convention sketches, post things on blogs, make prints. Go to this post for a more detailed overview of the convention sketch question.
Some clients like Lucasfilm have detailed contracts for this, but others don’t. When in doubt, ask permission.
While most publishers will say no to prints (one told me it was OK as long as I kept the limitation under 50 copies,) with a few exceptions, my publishers have allowed me to do convention sketches. At least two of my publishers allow artists to make sketches for money as long as we return the favor of doing sketches at the publisher booth for fans for free for at least an hour or two at a show. That’s a great deal for fans and for the artist!
How hard is it to ask permission?
I wanted to post my preliminary sketches for Marvel Girl Comics on my portfolio blog. But, would Marvel Comics allow it?
Marvel Comics editor Jeanine Schaeffer allowed me to post our email exchange so you can see just how wonderfully simple it is just to ask permission for something:
My letter dated May 20, 2010:
Dear Jeanine,
Thanks so much for including me in Marvel Girl Comics 2. I am getting such nice feedback on the piece!
Please do let me know if at some point it would be OK to post the preliminaries sketches on my blog. Naturally, I know you don’t want me to post the final work, at least, anytime soon.
Good luck with all your projects!
Colleen Doran
Jeanine’s response:
It’s more than okay to do so now, Colleen! And thank you so much for your work on this – I’m so happy that it worked out, and your piece is gorgeous!
J
Asking is easy. Artists do it all the time. Just because we don’t have the entirety of our private business correspondence, or detailed records of our conversations with editors in a public forum, that does not mean all artists are running around ripping their publishers off by doing sketches and posting things to blogs without finding out what the publisher wants and doesn’t want.
I even asked permission to post the letter about asking permission.
Hi Jeanine,
Would you mind terribly if I posted this email exchange as an example of how an artist can simply ask for permission from a publisher to post something on a blog or website?
c
And Jeanine responded:
Absolutely! We like it when people feel comfortable asking for permission 
Hope all is well!
J
Every publisher has their own standards and policies. Back in the day, a couple of my publishers mailed newsletters with standards and practices to freelancers every couple of months. Ask your editor or legal department what their boundaries are.
Some publishers refuse to allow any use of your work for them on a blog. For example, work I did for the He-Man and She-Ra franchise has never been shown by me because my client doesn’t allow it. You have to buy the products to see that work.
In rare cases, I have asked my clients if I may post unpublished development work. Some have said no. It is fair for them to say no. They have a right to protect their interests.
Most publishers are not monsters. They are cool about sketches and fan culture. As a matter of fact, my very first work at DC Comics came along because of an APAzine I participated in: Interlac, devoted to Legion of Superheroes fandom.
An APAzine was a kind of open letter fanzine. The APA had fifty members. Each member created their own zine, made copies, and then sent them to a central mailer. The central mailer collated all the copies into one big fan magazine by stapling all of the individual zines together and shipping them to each member of the club.
Legion of Superheroes creators Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen always got a copy, and one day I got a call from Keith Giffen who had seen my drawing of the Legion in the APA.
Publishers are very supportive of fan activity and often look to fandom to find the next generation of creators.
Don’t be shy about your fanfic or fanart, and if you are ever worried about stepping on someone’s toes with your drawings and writings, it’s OK to ask.
Chances are, you will not be able to get permission to manufacture things like prints. But with the exception of a couple of publishers, all my publishers are OK with sketches.
Thank you so much to Jeanine Schaeffer of Marvel Comics for permission to post this letter exchange.
