[Gennita Low]

Hopefully you can help me. Sorry with the long story; below is a lot of he said, she said, but I just came back from roofing and brain is fried. Anyway....

I bought a premade cover that I really like. However, I didn't like the arrangement of the series title I requested. The font was very plain and Courier looking. When I asked for a change, the model asked his designer who graciously did it but the result was still not quite what I wanted. It's an awesome cover, just the font was bad.

The owner of this premade cover then told me I can design this series title and then email it to him for approval. I was asking a friend of mine for help in this and she told me to ask this model to just send the cover without the font overlay and she'll put what we design on there and we can play around till I'm happy (I wasn't really asking for anything fancy, just a more "blockier" font and a certain way to arrange it to make it more series title-looking). This model wrote back and said he would have a problem with that because what if his designer and he didn't like our design and that would make their work look bad?

My question is, can the owner of a premade cover, once having sold it, any right to changes made to that cover, even in a minor way, like the arrangement of a title/font? I'm not photoshopping him or touching any of the art itself, just a side bar.

OTOH, said model suggested I can go back and forth with him and the designer and be charged extra because that's more work on a premade. I already fixed the problem on my end and it looks exactly the way I want it, but I didn't want any designer or model telling me I have no right to do that.

Thanks for any insight!

 

[Mathew Reuther]

Basically it boils down to this: were there terms?

If there were, you have to abide by them. If there were not, they have no say in what you do.

If their terms say nothing about modifying the cover, again, they have no say.

 

[Gennita Low]

Basically it boils down to this: were there terms?

If there were, you have to abide by them. If there were not, they have no say in what you do.

If their terms say nothing about modifying the cover, again, they have no say.

The terms didn't say anything against modifying the cover, just that I have the license to use the image on romance covers for mass market, print, ebook, and "romance novel-style promotional materials only."

 

[Mathew Reuther]

Then if they didn't prohibit alterations, they don't have a leg to stand on.

Maybe that's something they want to incorporate, but it will make authors who are cautious think twice about purchasing, as well.

 

[Gennita Low]

Then if they didn't prohibit alterations, they don't have a leg to stand on.

Maybe that's something they want to incorporate, but it will make authors who are cautious think twice about purchasing, as well.

Yes, this is my first premade experience, so that's why I'm asking for advice from those who have done this. I do like this model's covers and he knows the romance genre well, but from now on, I think I'll just stick to his photos that aren't premade covers or even not use him because he seemed so controlling of his pics.

Thank you for replying. I needed someone to talk to other than my friend who was more vocal about "something paid for is yours etc. etc., so pfffft."

 

[Mathew Reuther]

Where art is concerned the reality is that something paid for is yours to use within the agreement. So they are partially correct. The actual terms dictate how things go.

Sounds to me like the model is either a) worried that your text makes his butt look fat or b) wants more money out of you.