Sideshow Premium Art Prints

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by Canadaguy705

Question for you OC!!!

When Stanely Lau's Ink Collectibles opens, will he be allowed to sell the same prints as SS? Or because SS commissioned him to do them, does SS own the rights to them? Could Lau then sell the prints at a different size to get around that?

What are your thoughts?

Their still Stanley Lau's drawings and as such, I would think he would have all the right in the world to issue new editions for those prints. They likely wouldn't be 18x24 as I haven't seen Stanley release prints of that size on his own yet, but who knows what he is planning for Ink Ink Collectibles.

The only way I could see there being a problem is if Stanley signed some sort of contract that gave Sideshow the rights to those images and that is highly unlikely. Artists usually like to retain the rights to their work and only sign away rights if they absolutely have to. Given the popularity and success of Stanley Lau, its highly unlikely he would sign away any of the rights to his images.

[crimsinwing1989]

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

Their still Stanley Lau's drawings and as such, I would think he would have all the right in the world to issue new editions for those prints. They likely wouldn't be 18x24 as I haven't seen Stanley release prints of that size on his own yet, but who knows what he is planning for Ink Ink Collectibles.

The only way I could see there being a problem is if Stanley signed some sort of contract that gave Sideshow the rights to those images and that is highly unlikely. Artists usually like to retain the rights to their work and only sign away rights if they absolutely have to. Given the popularity and success of Stanley Lau, its highly unlikely he would sign away any of the rights to his images.

As a print expert would you be able to answer the question i posed a page back.
"am i correct in assuming its much easier for multiple artists to get dc/marvel art license then vs a statue making license? And also do artist like stanely lau have to pay royalties and/or licensing fees?"

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by worstgamerever

Mate, please don't stop with your posts. I'm not being a troll. Your posts by themselves have given me more perspective on this issue than if I spent months trawling the internet. Never seen such excellent posts on any forum. Please don't stop. Thanks.

Thanks for the compliment! I really do appreciate it and I am really glad you have found my posts so useful! I know there are a few member that get annoyed with my long posts so its nice to see that there are members finding them useful!

Originally Posted by crimsinwing1989

Do artist need licenses to sell DC and marvel art prints?

Technically yes, but normally when big name artists get hired to do work for companies like DC/Marvel, the contracts include the licensing rights to sell prints, sketchbooks, etc. Its become pretty standard fare in the business. So while technically you do need a license, its normally included in most of the contracts signed by the big name artists.

Originally Posted by crimsinwing1989

Thanks, am i correct in assuming its much easier for multiple artists to get dc/marvel art license then vs a statue making license? And also do artist like stanely lau have to pay royalties and/or licensing fees?

Due to the nature of the contracts today, it is definitely easier to get a license to sell the art than actually making a statue. Again, the rights to sell the artwork are normally included in the contracts the artists sign when they get hired by companies like DC/Marvel. Getting permission to create a statue would definitely be more difficult. Of course, for top artists in the industry like Stanley Lau, DC and Marvel want a lot of merchandise out there designed by such artists so for the top artists in the field, I wouldn't think it would be difficult getting a contract to do any sort of collectible. Again, they want merchandise out there designed by the top artists as they get merchandising fee's for all of that stuff. For lower artists on the food chain, statues would definitely be a much tougher sell.

As for royalties and licensing fee's, to my knowledge artists do not have to pay such fees for selling prints, sketchbooks, etc, as again the rights to sell that kind of stuff is included in the original contract, but when it comes to all of the various collectibles on the market like statues, lunch boxes, stickers, action figures, etc, the companies do get merchandising fee's for all that stuff. Basically they get a cut of each product sold and that equals a lot of money given the sheer number of products on the market these days.

One of the most interesting stories in regards to merchandising rights belongs to Star Wars. Because of the overall success of American Graffiti, George Lucas was entitled to a roughly 300% pay raise when it came to directing Star Wars. He made $150,000 on American Graiffiti and was lined up to make around $500,000 when it came to directing Star Wars. Instead of taking the pay raise, George offered Fox a deal where he would keep his salary at $150,000 for directing Star Wars, as long as he retained the merchandising rights for the film and retained the rights to any sequels. This was really before the age of serious merchandising money and Fox didnt think Star Wars was going to be a big success anyways so they agreed to the deal. This one deal, which only amounted to a $350,000 pay cut, wound up making George a multi-billionaire. To date, Star Wars toys have generated over 12 billion dollars in sales worldwide. Of course, Disney owns Star Wars now, but most of that money was generated while George owned the company. Pretty amazing when you stop and think about it. Easily one of the smartest moves in the entire history of Hollywood.

[VS1976]

Originally Posted by ambasah

I have 6 prints sitting here still in their shipping tubes. I think I may just return them all. Time to send an email.

Call them is faster bro.

[strife87]

Your posts really are great and very informative orangecrush, I'm another member that is appreciative of them.

I'm still looking forward to the matting tutorial as well!

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by strife87

Your posts really are great and very informative orangecrush, I'm another member that is appreciative of them.

I'm still looking forward to the matting tutorial as well!

Thanks! Again the compliments are very much appreciated and I haven't forgotten about the matting tutorial. Its definitiely coming! You have my word!

Originally Posted by VS1976

Well I was just offered 10% refund credit for all the prints I bought. That will be $207. I will think it over the weekend.

Crap, I figured it would be a really low figure like 10-15%. I can't imagine they are going to be offering different people different refund amounts so this pretty much sets it in stone that it will either be a 10% refund or sending the prints back to Sideshow for a full refund.

Sorry Sideshow, as much as I love the prints (and I really do love the prints!), 10% just isnt enough and given what I have been through with comic prints the last few years, I have to make this decision just based on principal alone. An authentic signature is worth more than just 10%. In all honesty, it really should be around 40-50%, but I think I would have taken 30%, just due to the fact that I really do love the prints. 10% on the other hand is really a ridiculous amount.

Given that they are only offering a 10% refund on the prints, I think its pretty safe to assume that the price of future prints will at most, be lowered by only 10%, if they lower the price at all, which I don't think they will. This whole thing is just so disappointing, including Sideshow's meager refund offer. Such a shame!

$207 refund? Wow, that means you spent $2070, which basically equals at least 20 prints. Thats pretty hardcore. Are there any prints that you didn't purchase?

[crimsinwing1989]

thanks for the info orange.

[VS1976]

Originally Posted by ambasah

I have 6 prints sitting here still in their shipping tubes. I think I may just return them all. Time to send an email.

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

Thanks! Again the compliments are very much appreciated and I haven't forgotten about the matting tutorial. Its definitiely coming! You have my word!




Crap, I figured it would be a really low figure like 10-15%. I can't imagine they are going to be offering different people different refund amounts so this pretty much sets it in stone that it will either be a 10% refund or sending the prints back to Sideshow for a full refund.

Sorry Sideshow, as much as I love the prints (and I really do love the prints!), 10% just isnt enough and given what I have been through with comic prints the last few years, I have to make this decision just based on principal alone. An authentic signature is worth more than just 10%. In all honesty, it really should be around 40-50%, but I think I would have taken 30%, just due to the fact that I really do love the prints. 10% on the other hand is really a ridiculous amount.

Given that they are only offering a 10% refund on the prints, I think its pretty safe to say that the price of future prints will at most, be lowered by only 10%, if they lower the price at all, which I don't think they will. This whole thing is just so disappointing, including Sideshow's meager refund offer. Such a shame!

$207 refund? Wow, that means you spent $2070, which basically equals at least 20 prints. Thats pretty hardcore. Are there any prints that you didn't purchase?

That's 8 framed & 2 unframed prints lol for that much

[Synzaic]

Originally Posted by VS1976

Well I was just offered 10% refund credit for all the prints I bought. That will be $207. I will think it over the weekend.

Are they offering to pay for shipping if you return them? How would the points situation work as they woukd aready have been credited/possibly used.

[Canadaguy705]

Well I did custom framing for most of my prints so returning them is not an option.

Looking for a Catwoman print to complete my current set and then i'm done with SS.


Hey OC .... Is there any way to get a hold of Stanely Lau and asking him if he can and will be selling the same prints as SS in the future? I don't do the social media thing.