Hi, I''m currently working in an arcade going to be released as shareware, and I''m currently thinking in using collaborations from some talented people to help me fill the art requirements of the game (that is, I would work in the art as well). It would surely help me in the development in many ways, but mainly because it would be saving me time, and because there are surely artists more talented than me The way I would implement this "collaboration" would be the usual, the artist gets his name in the credits, and a nice extra line in his CV / portfolio. That''s all I can give right now, no money neither royalties from the game, and anyway I think it can be enough for many artists to volunteer their work (and yes, I''m not dreaming, I already have some names in my mind ). The question is, how can I protect myself from those artists claiming I cannot use their work anymore, once the game is released? I guess the problem is about ownership, then I wonder what can I do to assign myself some rights over those works... There is more... what if the artist creates a character, which appear to be very popular, and then I want to use it in some sequel of the game? A simple solution for this problem I thought is, I give the artist the sketches he has to base his work in, so that the property over the characters and main ideas in the art remains mine... However, it would kill some of the benefits from having an extra artist, that is, the creative flow. And it wouldn''t solve the problem with the rights over the final work. I''d like to know how do you manage those problems when working with external artists (I think I read that Pavlina used a volunteer artist for Dweep, for example), and if you think a paper contract is really necessary. I wonder if there is no way to create some kind of "online license" to cover the main legal issues. I really cannot afford an attorney now, so I''m looking for easier solutions, if there are any. If there aren''t, well, I guess I''ll have to use just my own art... Thanks in advance, and best regards, --DK --H. Hernán Moraldo http://www.hhm.com.ar/ Sign up to the HHM''s developers'' newsletter.