Copyrights, Freelance, payment. How does it all work?

[Pawkfox]

So.. lately I've been able to get a very few commission "orders"
And I then hit the point where I suddenly lost my focus and now I don't trust my own opinion since its completely out of the blue..

So why not ask the community and the pros?

Copyrights. If I do a commission for private use. (as in, not a company)
how do I go about using it for my portfolio? I figure I could just "demand" it. O_o
Or add "Copyright: Respective owner" or something.

Signature. This is something I do demand. That my signature will be in the image. In a corner or somewhere it doesn't disturb the image.

Freelance. What are -your- steps when doing freelance work? (e.g thumbnails,speedpaint,finished piece) etc.

Payment. The eternal question for newbies. Sure you could rate hourly, estimate the time it would take and charge based on your skill. (newbie 10$/hour etc)
Do you charge half, halfway through?

Thoughts?
Discuss! =)

[Mirana]

Discuss! =)

Yes, they have been. Check out the stickies in the Employment Discussion (http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=68) sub-forum.

On your particular issues, you need to look up copyright law for your country and what international agreements it is a part of. With the Berne Convention YOU own the copyright on the image unless you sell those rights to the client. You don't need to ask permission for it's use, but in contracts do work out who is allowed to do what.

For signatures in the work, you can stipulate that the image not be altered in any way without your consent, and that will extend to any text you put on the image.

[NightVision]

I would charge at least double the rate you want, especially if you start so low: you'll most likely put in a lot more hours than you expect (also time will be spent on talking to the client, paperwork like invoicing & contract; changing things and making multiple thumbnails till you get it right (what they want)). Factor in money for taxes, supplies,... And then add some to give you some room to negociate!