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So l am steaming mad right now and when I go off I am not always thinking straight. Here is the story, a guy is selling some painted minis. I painted them and he must be reselling them for someone else. First l am annoyed that he is using the auction gallery feature on a very well known painting gallery site...think hot or not if you get my drift.

No where does he mention that they are painted by someone else(although he does not claim to have painted them). What also makes me mad is that he does not even have good photos of the figures.

So my question is this, does a seller of painted minis have the responsibility to give credit to the original painter or admit that he did not paint them.

One thing that is unclear from your post is...

"Does the SELLER know that YOU painted those minis?"

As for giving credit, unless the gorgeous paint job is the selling point, nah, I don't think so. It'd be nice, sure, but hardly a responsibility.

As for putting the pics in a miniature painting gallery... In my opinion that is pretty gakky behavior, especially if there's a voting or rating system involved. The person who painted the minis should be the one to upload pictures in that fashion. Sounds he was just too lazy to put them on third party hosting site. That would annoy me a hell lot more than not giving credit for my painting.

Unless he's specifically passing them off as his own work in order to boost his own reputation as a painter, I'm not really seeing a problem here, to be honest.

Certainly it would be appropriate to say who painted them if he is asked, but if he's just selling them as 'painted miniatures' most people aren't going to care who actually painted them.

It's always nice to get credit... but not getting it isn't really the end of the world. Particularly when it's an on-sell and you're not actually getting anything out of it anyway.

I think you need to provide some more details. If you were paid for the painting, or traded the minis away, then I see no reason to be upset. You were compensated. Beyond not crediting themselves as the painter of the mini they owe you nothing.

If you painted them for someone as a favor or gift, then your issue is with that person. But you did give it as a gift, so you can't really place restrictions on what they do with it.

It feels like there is an important detail missing thats the cause of your extreme emotional response. (I get that way myself, dont get me started about Shrike and infiltrators)

These were minis l painted and sold on EBay. Not sure who the seller is and how he got them.

Then he probably doesn't know who you are either, or that you painted the minis.

Yeah, commission painting, I'd be a little annoyed but not very; ebay and there's no relationship so unless he were passing them off explicitly as his own so lying about the matter, no grief there.

Bad pics will just get him worse cash for them, so think of it like a little justice. At least he isn't taking bad pics of your work and calling it yours.

It'd be nice to have given credit or asked, but, like others have said, hardly necessary.

If you really believe in your work that much, put a sig on the base/underside so people can recognize them if they want to.

beowulfhunter wrote:
These were minis l painted and sold on EBay. Not sure who the seller is and how he got them.

At which point they ceased to be your property. As stated above, if not touted as his own work, it's none of your business, the finished product was sold and you should have more worthwhile things to get angry about.

Yep, like everyone else I don't get what's to get angry about.

If the guy had said 'hey everyone look what I painted! Aren't they great?' then you might have a case.

And so what if he hasn't taken decent pictures? That's only going to affect his sale price. It's nothing to do with you. If anything, the buyer is going to get a nice surprise when his new models arrive and they look better than he expected.

They're not your models.. Why does he need to give credit for who painted them? That's like selling your car and having the person that painted it getting all mad..

What? How? Eh? Why are you mad? They are not your property. They can do what they please with them. If they try to pass them off as their own work, you'd have a genuine grievance. But simply selling on? For all you know, the next buyer could just dump the lot into paint stripper. What then?

beowulfhunter wrote:

So my question is this, does a seller of painted minis have the responsibility to give credit to the original painter or admit that he did not paint them.

Nope, absolutely no responsibility at all.

People buy and sell entire painted armies. There is no obligation to know the original artist. It is not deceptive.

You pay for the paint job, so unless the person is claiming to use these as examples of work for future commissions, Selling a painted figure is just like selling any other object.

Not unless he's entering them into a painting competition.

Responsibility? No.
Courtesy? Maybe.

What you need to ask is what adding/omitting your name would give to the sale. Does it matter to the buyer?

I agree with everyone else. If the person selling them is now the owner, he can do what he wants with them. He is under no obligation whatsoever to give credit to the original painter. When the original painter sold/gave the miniatures to the current owner they handed over any ownership/rights to them at that moment. That property now belongs to someone else.

I sell painted models relatively often. Most of the time, I did not paint them. Most of THAT time, I don't even know who did.
As someone who sells models painted by others on a regular basis, trust me that I'd RATHER know and name who painted them, if they're well known. If they're not well known as a painter, nobody will care, anyway.
That said, I have to agree with the majority opinion here; once you sold them, they no longer belonged to you and are therefore not your business how they are marketed. Provided the seller is not taking credit for painting them himself or herself, there's no legal or ethical issue.

Eric

Yeah, you have no rights here. Moral or otherwise.

If you do commission work, you'll have to deal with that you have no claim of ownership over the work. If it bothers you severely, you may wish to rethink your choice to do commission work.

or maybe slap a signature underneath the base?

If you are upset about seeing your work being resold maybe rethink your choice to be a commission painter as others have said.

beowulfhunter wrote:

So my question is this, does a seller of painted minis have the responsibility to give credit to the original painter or admit that he did not paint them.

No. It would be dishonest to TAKE credit, but he's apparently not doing that.

You sold your work, your right to tell him what to do with it more or less ends there.

Unless he took credit for the work, you have no justification for being upset that he resold them without giving credit to you. He's not required to; legally or morally. They're his models now, he can sell them, keep them, throw them out or eat them. Doesn't matter. You can of course feel bad that the person who bought them from you no longer wants them. But being upset you weren't given credit? Nah. If having your work resold bothers you, best not to sell painted figures. I've done some conversion work, and I know some guy in MA is sitting with a fully converted, 8th edition Aldebrand Ludenhoff Elector Count that I'm kicking myself for letting go. But I wouldn't feel bad if he ended up leaving WHFB and sold it off with the rest of the collection. I made something awesome and it brings enjoyment to someone (I hope). You should feel honored that one guy wanted your work and now more people are seeing it and going for it as well. Even if they don't know its yours. Pay attention to how well it sells: if it's a valuable markup, you might be able to "go pro," so to speak.

Can we hear from the OP - Why specifically are you upset? I must be missing some information.

Care to share the whole story? Are they being sold for more than you made on eBay or something?

Have you ever seen the name of the painter credited on ebay? Why should these models be any different?

 JimOnMars wrote:
Have you ever seen the name of the painter credited on ebay?

Yes, many times. However, it's certainly not a requirement and the OP should move on to something that moves the needle.

Do I have to mention the name of the car stop that varnished my car if selling it?

If you are famous by any degree, then people will mention your name as it improves a miniature's value. Other than that, why would they? You were paid to do the job and unless the contract has such a clause, noone needs to mention your name to anyone else.

Moral-wise, I don't see any obligation to do so either. You were paid for a job. You did it. End of the story. If you are not okay with it, then include a clause in your contracts, saying that you must be credited. Do not expect a lot of people to keep hiring you then, though.

beowulfhunter wrote:
So l am steaming mad right now and when I go off I am not always thinking straight. Here is the story...

Not your figures and he isn't claiming to be the artist so it isn't worth getting bent out of shape over. More curious is why you are taking this so personally? If you wanted to be known for you work, you should have taken pictures before handing the figures over to the guy you painted them for.

Beowulfhunter, make sure you put your work in a gallery before you part with it if you ever want credit. As you can see, most people can't even understand why you'd be upset, and many are even openly hostile about it!

Quote a few of us have even painted for commission (myself included) and don't have sympathy for this particular issue.