Updated April 13, 2017: To reflect VIDA’s Terms of Service update (TOS dated April 10, 2017)

In April 2016 when I was first asked my opinion of the terms of service for designers contributing to VIDA, I had no opinion. Because they weren’t even on my radar.

Since then, I’ve heard a lot more about them. VIDA has sent out thousands of mass emails to artists inviting them to submit their work. In fact, I even got one and I don’t sell any art! (Which makes me think that they must have some robot pulling email addresses from websites.)

When I read the first version of VIDA’s terms of service, I was incredibly disappointed. But in April 2017, they updated their terms to be far more friendly to their designers.

And even though the April 2017 terms of service are a step in the right direction, there’s still some items I’m unhappy with. And that you should be aware of before you upload your designs.

Granting an exclusive license

In VIDA’s April 2017 updated terms of service, when you upload your designs, you only grant them a non-exclusive license. This is a huge improvement over their original terms of service which required an exclusive license from the moment of upload.

However, under certain circumstances, this non-exclusive license becomes exclusive.

When you create your listings on VIDA, you have the ability to classify certain designs as a “Designated Product.” If you do this and that product is purchased, immediately upon purchase your non-exclusive license becomes an exclusive license for that product category.

Immediately upon purchase, your non-exclusive license becomes an exclusive license for that product category.

Which means if you indicate that a specific design was a “Designated Product” for scarves and a single scarf sold, you give VIDA an exclusive license for not only scarves but all accessories.

Because of this, you should be cautious about which designs you select as “Designated Products.” And only do it for designs that you are comfortable granting an exclusive license.

Have the ability to end the relationship

Another improvement in the April 2017 Terms of Service is that you have the ability to terminate your relationship.

However, unlike most of their competitors, VIDA requires that you email them to end the relationship.

This makes total sense for those designs that VIDA has an exclusive license for. But it doesn’t make sense for all non-exclusively licensed designs. VIDA is operating on the POD model and they don’t have a warehouse full of non-exclusively licensed products.

Because they don’t have product in stock, they could use the same terms that their competitors do. Which is basically, delete the design from our system and we will fulfill any existing orders but won’t take any new ones.

Instead, when you email VIDA to terminate the relationship:

• For non-exclusive licenses, you must give them 30 days notice to terminate the license
• For exclusive licenses, the license doesn’t expire for one year after you’ve terminated the license

If you’ve granted VIDA an exclusive license for a product category, this license extends for one year after you terminate the agreement.

Significant design modifications are okay

Another improvement over their original terms of service is how VIDA is allowed to modify your design. The original version allowed VIDA to make color, size, and other changes to your designs. However, they still request more rights than most of their competitors.

Most POD services need the ability to slightly modify your design to make it look good on the products. Which is totally understandable. VIDA’s terms of service allow them to do this. But they also are granted the rights to make changes to respond to:

• seasonal changes
• market-driven changes
• preferences

While VIDA does provide some transparency in this version about the kinds of changes they can make, they still can make significant changes to your designs without consulting you. And then attach your name to the changed design.

You aren’t being paid much and rarely

For your exclusive license, VIDA will compensate you 10% of the net revenue from each sale. This compensation is still lower than almost all of their competitors.

For example, Imagekind, Redbubble, Threadless and Zazzle let you set the final price. So your commission is the difference between the price you set and the base cost. And those paying a percentage commission have a higher rate. (Art of Where is 25% and Spreadshirt is 20%.) And all of these services only require a non-exclusive license.

Generally, the broader the rights granted, the higher the cost. So you should be paid more if you are granting an exclusive license. And that’s because by giving an exclusive license, you limit revenue streams. And you should be compensated more because you’ve put their eggs in one basket.

You should be paid more for an exclusive license because it limits your revenue streams.

Another way that VIDA differs from their competitors is the frequency of payment. VIDA pays commissions on a quarterly basis. While most of their competitors pay on at least a monthly basis.

I get why most POD sites have a 30-day grace period for payment. This grace period allows them to fulfill orders and for any returns to arrive. Which is why most POD sites pay monthly following a 30 day grace period (e.g. you’ll be paid on May 15th for all commissions earned between March 15th and April 14th.)

And yes, the traditional royalty model is that payments are done on a quarterly basis. But there’s no need to stick to that traditional model. And when you are the outlier, it’s really time to question why you are sticking to this tradition.

Because of all of this, I think that VIDA’s licensing rate under compensates designers and pays them less frequently than necessary.

TL;DR

The short version is you shouldn’t upload designs to VIDA without understanding what you are agreeing to. And that’s because with VIDA:

• if someone makes a purchase, you might be granting an exclusive license
• VIDA’s rights to use your designs continue for a set period of time after you end the relationship
• they can change your design without conferring with you
• you are getting paid 10% even when it’s an exclusive license
• you’ll only be paid quarterly

The short version is you shouldn’t upload designs to VIDA without considering the long-term.

Note: This post was updated to reflect the April 10, 2017 VIDA Terms of service, which you can see here. 

Are there terms of service you’ve been curious about that you want me to break down? Let me know in the comments.