Rules and Repercussions

RULES

1. Convention Badges

All artists who wish to participate in the alley (even if they're just sharing another person's space and didn't actually reserve their own) MUST be registered with the convention.

Convention pre-registration is now part of the process when reserving table space. All assistants will have to buy their own badges, and it is required to have them by the time check-in occurs for the Artists' Alley or they will not be checked in and will not receive an Artists' Alley badge, denying them any privilege that entails.

2. Check-In:

Each artist from a group has to check in at our Artists' Alley Info Desk (found just inside the entrance of the Alley) to pick up their Artists' Alley badges individually.

The first artist in a group to check in means your table is checked in. This means that at least one artist or assistant (if listed) from a group must have checked in by 11 AM Saturday or we will designate your space as empty and make it available for anyone wishing to book a space. It is, therefore, up to you to make sure you've already checked in or have previously made special arrangements with the Artists' Alley staff.

You will find check-in procedures and times in the FAQ.

3. Artist Alley Badge:

All artists or helpers (whether or not they are artists themselves) must receive an Artists' Alley badge. There is no limit on badges (apart from available materials). We prefer to know how many badges each space or group needs so that they can be ready at check-in, but we can make extras on the spot if need be.

The reason for the badge is so we can spot people who are stealing spaces. These people are squatters who see an empty table and sit down without having paid for the space. If they don't have a badge, we can kick them out. This is why it is necessary for all artists and assistants to have badges. Also, we can spot any artists who have been put on the banned list.

Please do NOT get offended if any of the staff asks to see your Artists Alley Badge - if you are not wearing it, we WILL ask for it. There are more than 300 artists in the alley and we cannot remember everybody's face. If you don't want to be inconvenienced, then wear your badge. This is for your protection.

4. Copyrights and Fanart:

Fanart is allowed, within reason.

• You are NOT allowed to copy, trace or in any way reproduce (either by hand or machine) an existing piece of art and sell it as your own.
• Fanart MUST be an original design that just happens to use your favorite characters.
• While there are laws about how much you can change a picture to make it your own, we are not qualified to judge if you've accomplished that task. For any picture that you've modified, please be safe and don't bring it. Use references as references ONLY and not as a base. If we can still recognize the original piece despite your modifications, we will ask you to take it off the table.
• Many artists practice by copying art from their favorite series or books. That's fine, just DON'T BRING IT or DON'T DISPLAY IT. Avoid problems and avoid complaints by just not bringing it. It will not be an issue if nobody sees it. If you still bring it, each one must be individually and CLEARLY MARKED as being NOT FOR SALE. If you are later found selling it, you will be found in violation of the rules.
  Our recommendation is to be safe and don't bring it at all. Even if we don't catch you at it, your fellow artists will. We pride ourselves on fostering a friendly and supportive artist community. Your fellow artists will feel like their own hard work was for nothing if they find others violating the above rules, so do NOT sell anything that isn't your own idea.

5. Hynes Convention Center Prohibits

• Selling OR distributing stickers.
• Selling or raffling off food of any kind (candy and drinks count). EXCEPTION: you may raffle off a gift certificate.
• Attaching anything in any way to the walls. This means no tape, tacks, nails, gummy tack, pushpins - ANYTHING.
• The use of any tape OTHER than gaffers' tape when securing wires to the floors.
Places you can find gaffers tape
Barbizon: http://www.barbizon.com/home/index.cfm (Woburn)
Backstage Hardware: http://www.backstagehardware.com/ (Boston)
Productions Advantage: http://www.productionadvantageonline.com/ (Online)

6. Adult Material

Any artist with adult-related material must have it marked, covered, and supervised at all times to make sure no minors are viewing it. Naturally, this also means you cannot sell this material to minors. Artists are responsible for verifying the ages of potential customers of this art. Failure to comply could result in disciplinary action and repeated offenses may result in expulsion from the convention. Nobody wants that, so please be careful.

ADDITION: If you are a minor, we can't stop you from drawing anything that would be considered 'adult material'. However, you cannot sell or show it to other minors or sell it or show it to adults. This is because of some legal concerns of adults interacting with minors despite the fact that the minors were responsible for the art.

What constitutes 'adult material'?
Anything sexually explicit and Nudity
Clarifications: A man without a shirt or a woman in a bikini is all right. Else wise, use your best judgment. Play it safe and keep anything questionable with the rest of the Adult material, and be prepared to put away anything we deem too much.

7. Merchandise

This is a list of what is allowed and what isn't allowed. Do not panic if you don't see something on either list. If it's not on either list, just email us and we'll figure it out. You can sell just about anything you want at your table. The catch is that anything you sell must be your own work and your own designs.

For example: If you buy Hello Kitty products at a store, you cannot sell it at your table. If this is what you want to do, you belong in the Dealers Room! However, if you design a picture and send it out to be placed on a tee shirt, you can then sell your shirts.

What can you sell	What you cannot sell (or use in the Alley)
CD's Books T-Shirts and other clothing Bags Bookmarks Prints Cards Games Costumes and Accessories Plushies Etched Glass Chain Mail Pins/Buttons Posters Face Painting	Stickers* Food* Store bought Merchandise Weapons (Boffa mallets, Yaoi rackets, Tazers etc)** Flamable items (such as chemicals) Convection Ovens Airbrushes

* see above (section #5)

Radios are allowed at your table, but be considerate of your neighbor. Be prepared to turn your music down if it bothers people. If there have been numerous complaints, we may require you to shut it down.

CONVECTION OVENS are not allowed under any circumstance.

AIRBRUSHES have too much potential for spillage and spray damage to walls, carpet, and neighboring artists' merchandise for us to allow airbrushing.

For that matter, any artist doing painting in the Alley needs to be REALLY careful. If you will be painting at all, you WILL cover the entire floor around your table. You will NOT sit on the floor and paint where people can trip over you, knock over your paint water and paints. Anyone who is seen to be in violation of this, or looks like a hazard, will be asked to put these away.

8. Minimum Age Requirement Limit:

Due to problems in the past, we're doing something we've hoped never to have to do - instituting an actual age cut off for those allowed to be artists in the Alley. Now it is required that you must be 16 years of age to get a table space. And no, that doesn't mean your parents can get you a table space if you're under the age requirement and then you use it for yourself. If we find this happening, you will lose your table. We apologize for this inconvenience as we do recognize that some of the younger folks are really, really good.

9. The Ratio of People per Table Limit:

Previously, we've held no limits to how many people could share a table (or a space at the table), expecting that common sense and common courtesy would keep problems from occurring. We understand that artists need helpers to support them for bathroom breaks, food runs and just to allow the artist time to enjoy the convention as a whole.

Keeping that in mind, we have decided to base the limits on our new spacing setup (see above). The limit is now 2 people for every space or a maximum of 8 people at an 8 foot table.

10. Display Materials:

We've had no problems with people building upright displays for their work in the past, and there has never been a limit to the height of display as the rooms we're in are quite cavernous. But if your display is not sturdy, it will not be approved. If a display falls over, you will be asked to take it apart and find some other way to display your work. If your display BENDS, it will be considered unsteady and you will be asked to take it down before it has the CHANCE to fall down and wreak havoc. Anime Boston is not responsible for injuries or damage caused by your display's collapse, but we don't want to see anyone's fun spoiled by some knucklehead's shoddy construction.

11. Commission Commitments:

If you, as an artist, enter into an agreement, whether it is written or not, with a patron, then you must honor the agreement. Giving the customer a price for having a commission done and he/she says "Yes, I'd like one" is an agreement.

YOU CANNOT RETROACTIVELY DECIDE TO CHANGE PRICES AND DEMAND MORE MONEY FROM YOUR CUSTOMER AFTER ENTERING INTO THIS AGREEMENT. This goes doubly if you've already accepted this person's money. It's not a good idea in either case, but this is even worse.

It is unprofessional, and a breaking of good faith to do this to your patrons. Even if you just do it once, word of this will spread. In the long term, you'll hurt yourself because people will be wary of commissioning artwork from you.

"But the commission turned out so much better than I thought/knew it would! Don't I deserve some compensation for it???"

Congratulations - raise your expectations of yourself in the future. Adjust your rates accordingly. Learn from the experience and move past it. It's going to happen. Of course, this WILL happen to beginners more at first, because we're still experimenting with the idea of pricing when we're beginners, but that's HOW we gain experience.

SOLUTIONS - You're not going to be left empty-handed. If you really like this piece and feel you deserve more, there are ways to get stuff out of it, without gouging your patrons. Not all your patrons will be happy with some of these solutions. DO NOT PUSH IT. You made the agreement, they paid, you drew, they RECEIVE.

1. Portfolio
2. Prints
3. Art Book

OPTION 1 - The Portfolio
NO matter what else they agree to, or what else happens, you've always got THIS. if it's THAT good of a piece, get yourself a good copy of it before letting it out of your hands (at a con, there are occasionally other artists with scanners if you don't have one yourself.)

Keep this in mind: when working on your portfolio, you're often working on pieces for yourself on your own time with no compensation what-so-ever with the hopes of having a decent portfolio that will help you do whatever - get a job, hook more commissions, whatever.

You can keep this one with the fact in mind that you DID make something off of it, and hopefully will again. If you don't need a 'portfolio' per se, you can always use a SHOWBOOK at your tables for convention to help entice people to order commissions from you. The thought behind this approach is that, sometimes, you're asked to do things that you wouldn't ordinarily have done or might not have thought to do on your own, so it shows a wider variety of talent and skill, media, and subject matter.

Option 2 - PRINTS
NOT ALL OF YOUR PATRONS WILL GO FOR THIS. But some of them WILL. There are a few variations on this theme, as follows:

• You can ask to sell their picture as a print/limited edition print.
• You can ask to sell a modified version of their picture as a print. For example, I did a color commission for someone, and received permission to sell the black and white version.
• You can ask to sell their picture, and all they ask is credit for the idea (some people DO come to you with EXACTLY what they want already in mind)

Option 3 - Art Book
Okay, I know that for some of you, this isn't much of an option, but you might make an art book someday. In which case, it's good to start hoarding pieces for it and getting permissions now.

It's a good way to show pieces you cannot sell. Some people get really excited to see their picture in a book even if they don't let you sell it.




REPERCUSSIONS
• 1st Offense: WARNING
  You will be given conditions with which you must comply. This may be, but is not limited to removing all offending material from sight and never displaying it again, etc.
• 2nd Offense: EVICTION FROM ARTISTS' ALLEY
  If you have already been given a warning and you have not complied (or you have violated another rule) you may be evicted from the Artists' Alley and banned from the Anime Boston Artists' Alley in the future.
• 3rd Offense: EVICTION FROM CONVENTION
  If you are found trying to get an other artist (whether knowing or unknowing) to help you sell the material you can no longer even set up, having already been evicted from your own table, you will henceforth be evicted and banned from the convention. We would be within our rights to share your name with other conventions as a warning.

At any time, Artists' Alley reserves the right to enact any of the above without warning. This means you may be asked to leave at our discretion. We do not expect to be doing this, but if you do something that is NOT covered in our rules, we need to be able to take steps.