Author and Illustration owner
I paid an illustrator to do the art for my picture book and I now own the artwork. Am I then allowed to submit to agents as an author/illustrator? How does this work?
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1 answer
Not a lawyer.
You paid an illustrator to provide artwork for your book. You (supposedly) own the right to publish the artwork - that's what you paid the artist for. But that doesn't make you the illustrator of the work. You are not an author/illustrator. You are an author. The illustrator would need to be credited as such. The book would be "written by X, illustrated by Y". By "owning the artwork" it is usually meant that you have the right to publish it in your book, not that you can stick your name on it.
The details would be in the agreement you signed with the artist. Agreements that say you are allowed to put your name on another person's work do exist, but that would be explicitly stated, hopefully cost a lot more money, and I personally find it morally disgusting.
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