So, you like to draw. In fact, you do such a nice job of it, someone’s decided to pay you money to draw something by request. Congratulations!

But did you know about your rights?

Under both Canadian and U.S. copyright laws, the artist (that’s you!) retains the copyright of the artwork. To quote About.com, “Owning the actual painting is not the same as owning copyright and reproduction rights in the painting.”

In other words, your work is still your work. Even if whatever you’re drawing is the intellectual property of another person. Example: if you’ve been asked by a writer to draw the writer’s characters, you retain the right to whatever you draw. The character belongs to the writer because the writer created the character. The artwork belongs to you because you made it.

Be warned, though: if you sign an agreement that gives the rights to the person commissioning your work, it’s no longer your work. Be very careful before signing any such thing; if the image hits it big, that means you will never see a penny beyond that initial commission.

Then, too, there’s the moral aspect: sure, you can sell prints of that commissioned work, but some people may consider it to be bad form.

In the case of writers and artists collaborating on a webcomic? You could say it’s a grey area, but in the end, it doesn’t take much brainpower to see that a webcomic is neither just art or just words. It takes both to make the comic. Remember to share and split accordingly.