so if you have a webcomic and are looking to host it somewhere, maybe avoid tapastic
they’re a pretty shady business overall. there’s the old TOS fiasco where they modified their TOS to affect your IP rights without your knowledge, and you auto-consented to it just by having your work there. source (yeah, i know, bleedingcool, big deal - but pay close attention to ironspike and george rohac’s tweets)
yeah, they mopped that up but after a public outcry. that’s old hat.
but here’s some new hat: the tapas creator incubator
tl;dr: the tapas creator incubator is an IP mill they will use to pitch to movie and tv companies, compensating you with scraps and taking full control of your own IP - your own work, YOUR BABY - out of your hands.
more details…
“wowwie, i get to work AT TAPAS HQ! with an editorial team and other creators in a big art house studio!!! i get to bump elbows with TV / original series big wigs! this might be my BIG BREAK!”
slow down there friendo! if it sounds too good to be true, then it is too good to be true. let’s take a closer look at what they want.
translation: tapastic wants you to produce 200 pages of comic work in 3-6 months. that’s 1.6 INKED, COLORED, AND LETTERED pages PER DAY, no days off! just an FYI, a “fast pace” for full-time webcomic artists is 4 pages a WEEK. scratch that - that’s breakneck speed for layouts, sketching, inking, flatting, coloring, and lettering comics pages. most comic creators produce a page every one or two weeks.
that is close to mangaka levels of workload, except mangakas have assistants to keep up with their outrageous level of production, and the other creators you’ll be working with are also busy with their own workloads. no help for you!
if you haven’t seen any red flags yet, let me drop some for you:
🚩 🚩 🚩 🚩 STIPEND 🚩 🚩 🚩 🚩
what is a stipend? wikipedia defines it thus:
A stipend is a form of salary, such as for an internship or apprenticeship.[1] It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work performed; instead it represents a payment that enables somebody to be exempt partly or wholly from waged or salaried employment in order to undertake a role that is normally unpaid (e.g. a magistrate in the United Kingdom) or voluntary, or which cannot be measured in terms of a task (e.g. members of the clergy).
a stipend does NOT have to meet minimum wage requirements, a stipend does NOT mean you are employed [by Tapas], a stipend does NOT mean you are entitled to benefits such as PTO, vacation, medical, dental, vision, or any of that. a stipend is COMPENSATION which has no MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.
this means tapas is allowed to pay you LESS THAN MINIMUM WAGE for your work. and before people jump onboard with “YEAH STIPENDS HAVE TO MEET MINIMUM WAGE”, friends, pals, listen: stipends only have to meet minimum wage requirements if you are an employee-intern with the company.
it’s interesting to note that when users have questioned tapas staff about this, staff responded with:
seriously. there’s a lot of “we work out payments on an individual basis” responses in there.
why all the secrecy? marvel, dc, image and the others are VERY UP FRONT about how they pay their creators. when i go looking for comic work, the pay is discussed right from the get go. the fact that tapas is unwilling to discuss pay is another 🚩.
just fyi, san francisco’s bay area is the most expensive area to live in ($3800/mo for studio, anyone?), and if they wont cover your travel, relocation, living, accomodations cost, then you bet your ass that stipend they offer won’t cover it either. keep that in mind, even if you won’t be relocating.
also keep this in mind: since this will be more than a full-time job, will that stipend pay as much as a full-time job if it doesn’t have to meet minimum wage requirements?
undisclosed pay? dividing up your control over YOUR IP? no clear outline on how much of your IP you still own? no termination clause? no info on royalties?
typically, comic publishers and hosts will tell you right off the bat who owns your IP and how profits will be split. this is standard and common practice. tapas has revealed none of these.
if you look at their TOS change and this “incubator”, this is a very clear trend that tapas is an IP mill out to exploit creators.
i can’t stop ya’ll from uploading your work there, i can only make you aware of the the trend and the things they are up to. i personally will never upload my work there and support their system.
if you haven’t already, give iron spike a follow on twitter, she is VERY good at keeping her ear to the ground for this kind of nonsense. join groups of experienced comic creators who keep an eye out for bad contracts (TokyoPop? Platinum? remember those guys?)
You know what. Tapas is shit. I’m glad I decided to no longer promote my comic there.