A is a contract among all collaborators on a project. If you are working with one or more artists, the agreement lays out who is involved and what they contribute. It also lays out how decisions are made and how ownership, copyright, and profit are handled.
While collaborating can spark amazing creativity, it also opens the door for potential misunderstandings. A written gets everyone on the same page from the start. Any later changes the group agrees to, for example, to roles, ownership shares, or profit split, are best put in writing too.
Collaboration agreements can vary, but let’s explore below some of the common considerations that come up.
Roles and Contributions
Who is doing what? For example, if two painters team up on a mural, will each paint 50% or are specific parts allocated to each painter? Or if a digital artist and a musician collaborate on an audiovisual piece, what is each of them responsible for?
You might not foresee every task, but writing down the expected contributions (artwork, time, resources, funds, etc.) helps keep things clear, including if collaborators later feel they did more or less than expected.
Some teams keep a contribution log, which is basically a diary of who did which part. This can help address any potential future questions about authorship or effort.
Copyright Ownership (Joint Ownership Intent)
One of the most important aspects of a collaboration is deciding how you and the other artists will own the intellectual property in the resulting artwork.
Often, a collaboration means you intend to be joint authors—sharing copyright in the final work. In this case, the agreement would typically state that the collaborators agree to be co-authors and might even specify the share of ownership for each collaborator.
In many countries, when two or more people create a single work together and their contributions cannot be separated, the law considers, by default, that they become co-owners of one copyright. Some countries also require that the authors intended to merge their contributions. In some jurisdictions, each co-author can individually license or use the work, provided they share profits with their fellow co-owners, while in other jurisdictions, all co-owners must consent to any exploitation of the work.
For more information, see our content page on Joint Authorship.
To avoid confusion, often specify how each collaborator can use the work individually. For example, you might all agree that any of you can include the work in your portfolios freely, but that any commercial use, such as making prints or any form of , requires agreement of all and a split of any revenue.
Clear documentation of copyright ownership helps avoid future misunderstandings.
Profit and Expenses Sharing
If you earn money from the collaboration through sales, licensing, or in some other way—how will you split it?
Collaborators usually agree on a profit-sharing ratio upfront. It often aligns with the ownership shares, but it does not have to. For example, collaborators who co-own the copyright equally might agree on a different split of income if one of them also paid for the materials or handles sales.
The term “profit” itself is sometimes defined explicitly. For example, you might agree to subtract expenses first (cost of materials, marketing, etc.) and then split the net income.
Similarly, how will expenses be handled during the project? Does each collaborator bear their own costs, or will one person take on the expenses and be repaid from sales first? Collaborators may agree to keep receipts and share an expense report to ensure that money is handled fairly and transparently.
Creative Decision Making
Art collaborations can run into conflict when artists disagree on creative choices (e.g. style, when the work is “finished”, where to exhibit, etc.). Your collaboration agreement can set a decision-making process to balance some of these potential challenges. For example, some teams agree to operate on consensus, meaning all collaborators must agree. Alternatively, some teams choose to go by majority rule.
Many decisions may yet arise after the artwork is made: How will you decide where to submit or exhibit the piece? If one person gets an opportunity to use the work somewhere, how will they obtain consent from the others?
Laying out a process—even as simple as “we agree to discuss and all must approve”—can save working relationships. It may also be useful to identify a or trusted third party in advance, or to agree on a decision-making mechanism, such as a majority vote. This can help prevent potential future deadlock.
may also address matters such as exploitation rights, future uses of the work, the giving of credit, and moral rights.
For guidance on mediation, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), and resolving disputes, see the section on Resolving Disputes.
Newer forms of collaboration also exist. For instance, artists might use “” for digital collaborations. Smart contracts automatically split from sales of an NFT. While tools such as these can streamline payments and reduce administrative friction, they still require careful agreement in advance, as the rules governing revenue splits, conditions of use, and future rights must be clearly defined and programmed into the smart contract from the outset. Technology can help enforce agreed terms, but it cannot replace the need for mutual understanding and clear agreements between collaborators.
Ask yourself: Does your collaboration agreement address how you will handle creative decisions and disagreements? If the collaboration ends prematurely or one of you loses interest, what will happen to the project and the rights in it?
Image credit: Jacob Wackerhausen