Charge for the same design but different client?

Question

I designed a kids handbook for a prayer group a few years ago. I just got an email from the woman I worked with and she said another person from a different place asked if it is possible to somehow pay the designer for the right to use the work, which is already created, but change to the cover to have their logo on it. They want to know what I would charge.

Im curious if anyone else has dealt with a similar situation.

Would you charge the full price you charged the first client, or a discounted price since most of the work is done?

Answer 1

I have no basis or facts to back this up, merely my own experience.

Typically for very similar reuse of an already completed project as you've described and the client is not wanting rights or native files, merely usage - I'll charge 1/3 the design fee for that specific new usage. This seems to be a fee I feel is adequate and one the clients can live with as well. Which is ultimately the goal overall.

Related:

• Usage fees / royalties for re-purposing an existing illustration

• Usage costs for logo animation intro / outro template

Answer 2

Conceptually, you're charging for usage rights (which you've hopefully calculated and baked into your pricing) and separately for a new cover... typically, Intellectual Property use rights are not assigned in the same way that design time to create the piece is (see links below for more detail) and you might also consider looking up how photographers calculate useage fees (back when I did a lot of technical illustrations, that was the basis on which I modeled my fee structure) for good measure.

Charging an Intellectual Property transfer fee for design work

https://gomedia.com/zine/insights/how-to-charge-for-what-youre-worth/

https://www.aiga.org/copyright-basics-for-graphic-designers

So I always have had a discretely noted fee for rights transfer in my non-logo design work, though I never had occasion to actually use it. Whatever language and pricing you originally had for copyright buyout options should guide your current fees I'd think.