I'm glad you bring this stuff up.
The legality, copyrighting, taxes, etc. are the things that I really need to become more serious about as well. Thanks to all the great people I've been able to help with their projects this year, it's looking like I will be able to go full-time sooner than I anticipated. It's simultaneously a dream come true and also incredibly intimidating as far as what I need to know and do to run a legit company rather than a moonlighting gig. What laws, licensing and documentation do I need? How can I copyright my work? I've seen my work floating around on the web that I never gave permission for or design concepts that have been thinly veiled as an "original idea" by someone else. What action can I take if I think it's necessary?
As far as deliverables, I try to keep it as informal as possible right now. I'm usually not going to make a big deal if someone wants me to send them a CD or a file to print out themselves. As long as my name stays on the work and I get credit for it I probably won't say anything. Now if someone were to mass produce the image for the sole purpose of turning a profit, yeah, I may speak up. I try to take a common sense approach to it. Could I make more money out if I were a stickler for copyrighting? Maybe. I at least reserve the right to use it in my portfolio, but I ask permission from the client.
I typically print out on my home printer 11x17. If they want a larger print, I charge them whatever it cost me to have it printed at a print shop.
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