Character designs and possible problems

Cernex · Apr 10, 2013

I have a kindda complicated question. You see, I like having doodles of my characters and designs being made before I ever finish any of my WIPs (I'm that way, what can I say?). They usually don't get posted on the internet, but a couple (that I ended up not using) were eventually into some deviantart or tumblr, can't remember.

Now so far so good, I have never been published, so I don't know what I'm talking about, but if by any miracle any of my stuff ever gets published, what would happen to that already published (in the internet) art and to the people who did it? What would happen to the character in question? Will the design have to change because of that? Will that make reduce the possibilities of my project getting picked up by a publisher?

Update: Also, I'm not drawing them. Friends are.

Old Hack · Apr 11, 2013

I'm going to move this to Art and Design, as it's not really appropriate for our Publishing Resources room.

Unless you have a contract saying otherwise you don't hold the copyright of these illustrations, the people who drew them did, so you would have to gain their agreement prior to using their work in any published form.

Moreover, publishers rarely use illustrations commissioned by their authors: they almost always commission their own versions.

The only issue I can see with this, to be honest, is that if the illustrations have become popular and your writing has been completed after their success, you might have problems showing that your work is original and not derivative.

Also, "doodles"? That seems to me to be very dismissive of the work of the illustrators' efforts. You might want to rethink your phrasing.

Character designs and possible problems

Cernex

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman