March 2008 – Volume Six

A very warm spring greeting to all members of The Artists Web!This is the March edition of Artists Newsletter, your monthly source of information and news.

In this edition:

• Tips to make your work sell – 10 must-dos when promoting your art
• Protecting your work: Need-to-know information about your art and copyright
• Art Competitions – March 2008
• Website of the month

Tips to make your work sell

A popular topic in our online forums has been how artists can increase traffic to their site, and generally heighten marketability of their work online. We’ve developed a very helpful top-ten list of recommended actions for all artists to help make their work sell:

1. Ensure to fill out the terms and conditions for buyers on your site (this is a legal obligation)            http://www.beta.theartistsweb.co.uk/myaccount/
2. Submit site to D-Moz Directory (Run by Google) http://www.theartistsweb.net/wiki/How_to_get_your_website_listed_in_the_dmoz_directory
3. Have a signature when posting on forums with a link to your site. (e.g. http://www.artistsforum.org: Login, User Control Panel, Profile, Edit signature) This will increase your incoming traffic and search engine results when potential buyers do a name search.
4. Complete your profile properly on The Artists Web
5. Tag your artwork: Login, Image Pages, List images, Open a gallery, Enter tags in tag box for each image. (Untagged artworks are difficult to search for)
6. Add testimonials from past buyers to your website and profile on The Artists Web: go to http://www.beta.theartistsweb.co.uk/myaccount/ -> view profile -> and fill out the Testimonials form.
7. Maintain a mailing list of people who have bought from you before, have enquired about your art or would be interested in your exhibition.http://www.theartistsweb.net/otrs/faq.pl?Action=&ID=47
8. Encourage people to comment on your artwork. The benefits are two-fold, with comments working as a ‘review’ of your work, assuring other viewers that your work receives attention. Secondly comments attract more traffic to your profile.
9. Ensure your work is priced.
10. Resist the temptation to display every piece you’ve ever created. Show off your best! Although sold works should be displayed, a greater percentage of the work on display should be for sale.

For more tips on promoting your work, please watch the Wiki.

Copyright- Protecting your work

For all of our artists out there, one concern after creating that fabulous piece, is how to protect it. Firstly, to define terms, the UK office for Public and Intellectual Property state that copyright applies ‘to original artistic works such as paintings, drawings, engravings, sculptures, photographs, diagrams, maps, works of architecture and works of artistic craftsmanship’. As long as your work falls under the above definitions, this protection in the UK is automatic, and no action or bureaucratic process is required by the author in order to ‘copyright’ the work. In other words, no other party can make reproductions without explicit permission from you for the life of the authorship.

How long does automatic copyright last?

In the United Kingdom (for works created after 1989), the creator of the work will be the author and first owner (and copyright will las)t for the life of the author plus 70 years.

Simple protection measures

As previously outlined, no official action is required to formally copyright a piece of work, although it is useful because it informs the public that the work is protected by copyright, identifies the copyright owner, and shows the year of first publication. In addition, if a proper notice of copyright appears on the published copy or copies then in an infringement suit, no weight shall be given to a defense based on ‘innocent infringement’.For the purpose of digital images presented on a web page on the internet, a clearly identifiable copyright message, stating © or Copyright, or the author’s name and date of first publication is sufficient.

After I sell my artwork, have I lost my copyrights over that work?

Copyright is a form of intellectual property which, like physical property, can be bought or sold, inherited or otherwise transferred, wholly or in part. So some or all of the economic rights may subsequently belong to someone other than the first owner.In the example that an oil painter sells his or her work, this does not mean the artist has sold copyright of the work. Therefore unless specifically authorized, the new owner of the painting cannot make reproductions etc. without permission from the artist (the copyright owner). For more information about copyright and your work, please refer to The Artists Web ‘wiki’ at: http://www.theartistsweb.net/wiki/Image_Copyright

Art Competitions March 2008

Here are our picks for art competitions to get involved in this month:Royal Academy of The ArtsCompetition: Summer Exhibition 2008 Exhibition Dates: 9 June – 17 August 2008 Entry Deadline: Tuesday 18 March Details: The annual Summer Exhibition showcase for art of all styles and media, encompassing paintings, sculpture, prints and architectural models. Artists in the UK may still purchase forms by telephoning for them on 020 7300 5929/5969 before the 14th of March. For more information: http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/summer-exhibition Leisure Painter & ‘The Artist’ Magazine (in conjunction with Patchings Art Centre) Competition: Patchings Art Prize and Exhibition 2008 Exhibition Dates: June 5th-July 13th, 2008 Entry Deadline:  March 28th, 2008 Details: This multi-prize exhibition is open to both professional artists and leisure painters – from beginners to professionals. Artists are invited to enter two-dimensional works in any medium. Selected works will be exhibited at Patchings Art Centre, in Nottinghamshire. For more information: http://www.painters-online.co.uk/open/?page=patchings08 Royal Society of British Artists-The Mall Galleries Competition: Threadneedle Figurative Prize Exhibition Dates: 20 Aug - 6 Sep 2008 Entry Deadline: June 20th, 2008 Details: A new competition, decided by public vote aimed at encouraging innovation in figurative art. Set to rival the Turner Prize, with two major prizes totaling £35,000.A special Open Day will be held at the Mall Galleries on Saturday 19 April (10:00 am - 3:00 pm) for interested artists to see the Gallery space and learn more about the competition. For more information: http://www.threadneedlefigurativeprize.com

Website of the Month:

March’s website of the month is an Art Lexicon called ‘ArtLex’ (http://www.artlex.com) This website contains definitions for more than 3,600 terms used in discussing art / visual culture, along with thousands of supporting images, pronunciation notes and great quotations. It also cross-references styles, media, techniques, and other terms. Here’s our favorite quote from Mexican painter Diego Rivera (1886-1957): “To be an artist, one must . . . never shirk from the truth as he understands it, never withdraw from life.” Thanks for reading, and we hope March be a fruitful and enjoyable month for all our artists!Best Regards,The Artists Newsletter Team