Graphic Designer Karen Briggs Is Now Confident With Contracts
“I can’t thank Arts Law enough for their invaluable assistance. Their team not only has provided legal advice tailored to my artistic endeavours but also empowered me with the knowledge to make informed decisions about my creative projects.”
Karen Briggs, Arts Law client
Karen Briggs is a proud Yorta Yorta artist, illustrator and graphic designer based in South Australia. She has designed logos, branding and other graphics and illustrations for a broad range of government, not-for-profit, corporate and private clients.
Running her own graphic design business, KLB Creative, Karen first came to Arts Law for advice in 2022 about the licensing of her artwork by commercial and government clients. By her own admission, Karen did not have a lot of prior knowledge about copyright and contracts. With her business growing rapidly, and a broad range of clients seeking her work, Karen wanted help to understand what she should be doing to better protect her rights.
When we first advised Karen, we spoke to her about her copyright, moral rights and about Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights (ICIP), directing her to one of our contract templates that she could consider adapting and using for future projects.
Karen then started by amending this template herself for a client and asked us to review it for her. We provided some suggestions on her draft to make the deal fairer and provide her with more control over the use of her designs by her client. Whether it is limiting the term of the agreement to a few years, or limiting the scope to only provide a licence on a small range of items or purposes, each of these things gives Karen more control over the use of her designs.
Within the past year, we have reviewed four contracts that Karen has drafted herself using our template, each for major clients from the government, corporate and not-for-profit sectors. This has helped give Karen a new set of skills for her business and means that she can have greater confidence that her work will be treated respectfully and fairly, thanks to having a clear contract in place.
“I now have confidence to negotiate licensing agreement contracts with my clients for protection of my artwork. Along with imparting this knowledge into other artists to them the tools to succeed in their creative pursuits.”
Karen Briggs, Arts Law client
Within just over a year of contacting Arts Law for the first time, Karen’s business has evolved from not having formal agreements in place to a point where she drafts licensing agreements herself ahead of projects with major clients.