It's that time of year again.
Actually, it was no time of year. But just a reflection on a very, very recent video done by one of my favorite content creators. This post is a response to that. So here's my full statement on paid collaborations.
Paid collaborations means that you are being paid to produce work for Yellow Optic that will be marketed under the Yellow Optic brand as an Optic work.
By allowing your work into a final product, be it in marketing, design, and/or communicative purposes, you forfeit your rights to full autonomy in the crediting on the work as a standalone product, in return for it to be recognized as a Yellow Optic creation, in this context being used as an umbrella term for the team fused together for the purposes of furthering the brand of the same time, and monetary compensation.
I, being the original creator of the stories, writing, and thus this post, retain after the compensation, the sole rights and thus actor, be it in a court of law, as a part of a joint venture, marketing, content enrichment, and all other Yellow Optic intents as the rights to the work have been forfeited as a result of receiving cash in direct relation with the security the full commercial rights, unilaterally, of your design and/or labor.
You still have unlimited and unbridled permission to promote it as part of your own work and/or include it as part of your artistic portfolio, as long as it is not commercial, as said rights have been given up from the changing hands of appropriate and agreed-upon exchange of a cash enticement.
I'm paying you because your work is truly outstanding and I deem it to be fully worth my time and potentially hundreds of others. In this action I am displaying absolutely zero intent to exploit you, since I am demonstrating that I put actual value in your contribution and used cash as part of my efforts to exhibit that. This applies only if you have not previously refused payment in return for your precious labor and efforts.
And of course, the crediting issue has been previously outlined, and I'm not going into that again.