If you work as a full-time artist for a company, that company has full rights over the reproduction of the art you create on the job. This is a concept known as work for hire. As the argument goes, your benefits such as health insurance and compensation for job-related injuries constitute payment for the rights you're giving up. Sometimes a freelance artist will be faced with a work-for-hire contract. In this situation, the artist gives up all claims to the copyright of her work, granting it to the publisher. Legally, the publisher is considered the author of the work. The publisher may then reproduce the work freely in any medium into perpetuity.

A work-for-hire contract must be approached cautiously. If you do accept a work-for-hire project, do not use any characters or concepts that you'd like to keep ownership of. At the very least, you should negotiate a price that is much higher than your standard price, since you will not have a chance to recoup any future earnings from this work.