Section 4 – 2024 Artist Professional Services Fee Schedule

C.1.0 • Guiding Principles

Artists carry out many tasks in the course of their professional careers that merit fair remuneration. The following are recommendations for professional services fees for several common tasks.

C.1.0.1 What the Professional Services Fee covers

Professional Services Fees are compensation that an artist receives in exchange for presentation or consultation services, participation on a jury, installing artwork, writing tasks, or preparation of support for an exhibition or project. This is not an exhaustive list, and compensation for other activities should be negotiated.

These rates are compensation for an artist’s time and labour only, and they only pertain to work carried out by an artist, as an artist. It does not include work that an artist may do as an arts administrator or teaching at an institution, for example. We also do not set rates for other cultural workers. Other payment guidelines may exist for those roles, and we may refer to them if appropriate.

All fees listed here are considered minimum recommendations. An artist may request a higher fee, or they may accept a higher fee if it is offered. All fees are payable in Canadian dollars, and they are exclusive of applicable taxes.

Copyright collectives, such as Copyright Visual Arts may request higher royalties for their affiliated artists.

Additional exhibition or reproduction royalties may apply. For other related royalties and fees payable to visual and media artists, see the relevant category of the Exhibition and Screenings Royalty Schedule, Reproduction Royalty schedule and Artist Professional Services Fee schedule.

Fees do not include:

• general equipment (ie: lights, projectors, video, audio, etc) that should be provided by the presenting organization. Special equipment integral to the work is the responsibility of the artist, however, if an artist is supplying their own equipment, equipment rental fees should be added. Rental fees for artists’ equipment should match those of the nearest production centre offering similar equipment.
• publication costs, insurance, shipping, or any other costs associated with the production of an exhibition or other activity.
• costs related to the production of artwork(s), which should remain negotiable.
• artists’ travel and accommodation expenses, or per diems payable to the artist so they may attend a site visit, install work, give an artist talk or workshop, attend a reception, etc.

If an artist receives a prestigious award or cash prize, all exhibition and reproduction royalties and professional services fees are to be considered separate from the award amount.

C.1.0.2 What a copyright license covers

A license entitles a user to exhibit or reproduce or use a work in a specified manner. Ownership of a work does not imply a transfer of copyright. Copyright remains the property of the artist unless there is an agreement that states otherwise. We recommend that artists license their rights, rather than assign them.

Moral rights protect a work from associations with unapproved causes or products, and from unapproved alteration or distortion (including overprinting and cropping). They also require that an artist be credited with their creation, unless the artist does not wish to be associated with it.

C.1.0.3 Size of a presenting organization

Unlike rates in the Exhibition and Screening Royalty schedule, we do not currently recommend different rates for Professional Fees according to the host venue’s organizational budget, but some exceptions apply, such as C.2.3 as well as specific agreements negotiated under the Status of the Artist Act:

National Gallery of Canada: Mandatory minimum exhibition and reproduction royalties and professional services fees have been negotiated between CARFAC-RAAV and the NGC since 2015.

C.1.0.4 Duration of coverage

Most Professional Services Fees are based on half and full-day rates*. Day rates are often used in sectors where freelance or occasional work is common, rather than regular rates for hourly or annual salaried employment.

The half-day rate applies to work done up to four hours in duration, and it is not to be pro-rated. The full-day rate applies to work done over four hours in duration, and additional overtime hours may be negotiated according to relevant labour standards.

For work carried out over a period of three days, a flat rate may be negotiated, which should not be less than the applicable daily rate x 3 days.

* C.5 and C.6 use other formulas, which may include hourly rates.

Contractors must respect all provincial or territorial labour standards in effect.

C.2.0 • Presentation fees

Presentations include giving a lecture about an artist’s own work or any area of expertise associated with the work or one’s life as an artist; participating on a panel, roundtable, or informal Q&A; leading workshops or tours; speaking to school groups, and so on.

It should be noted that while the speaking engagement may be well under four hours, the overall event that the artist is asked to attend is often much longer, and these kinds of presentations often take a significant amount of time to prepare, and should therefore not be reduced to an hourly rate.

C.2.1 Solo presentations

The following fees apply to speaking engagements in which one artist is asked to provide a presentation. Additional fees apply if the presentation is recorded and publicly available for on-demand screening, as per section C.2.

For major keynote presentations, a higher fee may be negotiated. In this instance, the audience size and prominence of the host organization or venue should be taken into consideration, as well as ticket pricing, duration of the presentation, etc.

See C.1.0.1: What the Royalty covers

For other related royalties and fees payable to visual and media artists, see the relevant category of the Reproduction Royalty schedule, Exhibition and Screenings Royalty schedule and/or Professional Services Fees schedule.

*Specific agreements negotiated under the Status of the Artist Act

Mandatory minimum royalties have been negotiated separately with the NGC, under Status of the Artist legislation.

Note: Copyright collectives, such as Copyright Visual Arts may request higher royalties for their affiliated artists.

C.2.2 Group presentations

The following fees apply to speaking engagements in which more than one artist is asked to provide a presentation, such a panel discussion. It is payable to each participating artist. Additional fees apply if the presentation is recorded and publicly available for on-demand screening, as per section C.2.

See C.1.0.1: What the Royalty covers

For other related royalties and fees payable to visual and media artists, see the relevant category of the Reproduction Royalty schedule, Exhibition and Screenings Royalty schedule and/or Professional Services Fees schedule.

*Specific agreements negotiated under the Status of the Artist Act

Mandatory minimum royalties have been negotiated separately with the NGC, under Status of the Artist legislation.

Note: Copyright collectives, such as Copyright Visual Arts may request higher royalties for their affiliated artists.

C.2.3 Media Arts Q&A or Screening Introduction

These types of brief speaking engagements, typically held right before or right after the screening, do not require special preparation from the artist, and are usually short (less than 30 minutes). Unlike other types of speaker fees, these rates vary by institutional budget.

Rates apply to in-person and online live-streamed presentations.

See C.1.0.1: What the Royalty covers

For other related royalties and fees payable to visual and media artists, see the relevant category of the Reproduction Royalty schedule, Exhibition and Screenings Royalty schedule and/or Professional Services Fees schedule.

*Specific agreements negotiated under the Status of the Artist Act

Mandatory minimum royalties have been negotiated separately with the NGC, under Status of the Artist legislation.

Note: Copyright collectives, such as Copyright Visual Arts may request higher royalties for their affiliated artists.

C.2.4 On-demand viewing of presentations

These rates apply to all speaking engagements (C.2.1 – C.2.3) that have been recorded and can later be accessed at the viewer’s convenience.

Rates are provided for up to one year (applicable rate + 25%) or unlimited (applicable rate + 50%). Higher amounts are recommended for workshops (ie: how to apply to a residency or write a grant), but exact rates are not specified here.

See C.1.0.1: What the Royalty covers

For other related royalties and fees payable to visual and media artists, see the relevant category of the Reproduction Royalty schedule, Exhibition and Screenings Royalty schedule and/or Professional Services Fees schedule.

*Specific agreements negotiated under the Status of the Artist Act

Mandatory minimum royalties have been negotiated separately with the NGC, under Status of the Artist legislation.

Note: Copyright collectives, such as Copyright Visual Arts may request higher royalties for their affiliated artists.

C.3.0 • Consultation fees

Consultation means the giving of advice, input, or opinions that might be associated with project development, exhibitions, or commissions concerning the artist’s own production, or participation in a consultative process concerned with, for example, policy development in the cultural arena.

It should be noted that while a consultation meeting may be well under four hours, the overall meeting that the artist is asked to attend is often much longer, and these kinds of meetings often take a significant amount of time to prepare, and should therefore not be reduced to an hourly rate.

The following rates apply:

See C.1.0.1: What the Royalty covers

For other related royalties and fees payable to visual and media artists, see the relevant category of the Reproduction Royalty schedule, Exhibition and Screenings Royalty schedule and/or Professional Services Fees schedule.

*Specific agreements negotiated under the Status of the Artist Act

Mandatory minimum royalties have been negotiated separately with the NGC, under Status of the Artist legislation.

Note: Copyright collectives, such as Copyright Visual Arts may request higher royalties for their affiliated artists.

C.4.0 • Jury fees

For intensive jury processes, such as peer assessment juries at a federal, provincial, or municipal arts council, where an assessment panel is formed to review detailed applications and decide or make recommendations on grant recipients and amounts, that organization is likely to have its own internal guidelines for jury fees. If not, we recommend the following rates:

This fee may also apply to presenters or other types of arts organizations, where preparation work is required of jury members, or some other formula may be used (for example, a reading fee for applications in addition to the above-noted jury meeting fee).

There may be some instances where participation on a jury involves no preparatory work, and the jury process is likely to take half a day or less. This may include, for example, an artist-run centre or community organization, in which artists are asked to review applications for exhibitions, festivals, prizes, etc. In this instance, the minimum recommended rate is as follows:

See C.1.0.1: What the Royalty covers

For other related royalties and fees payable to visual and media artists, see the relevant category of the Reproduction Royalty schedule, Exhibition and Screenings Royalty schedule and/or Professional Services Fees schedule.

*Specific agreements negotiated under the Status of the Artist Act

Mandatory minimum royalties have been negotiated separately with the NGC, under Status of the Artist legislation.

Note: Copyright collectives, such as Copyright Visual Arts may request higher royalties for their affiliated artists.

C.5.0 • Writing and editing fees

Writing tasks refer to texts that artists may be asked to write for print or digital use, in preparation for an exhibition or screening, such as an artist statement or catalogue essay. It may also include articles that an artist may be asked to write for a periodical or journal.

Most artists who are asked to write on a freelance basis charge between 50 cents and $1 per word, depending on the amount of work they will have to put into the project, while others may charge a flat rate. We recommend a per-word rate that takes into account the experience of the writer, the research that may be required, and the amount of time it takes to write the text, and we generally recommend a higher rate for shorter texts.

The writer and editor should discuss the content, style, revision process, focus, and point of view to be used in the manuscript. The writer will then use their best efforts to write the manuscript within the agreed parameters and will obtain the consent of the editor before departing from any of them.

If the manuscript, as submitted, fails to fall within the agreed parameters, the editor may require the writer to revise the manuscript. For this work, we recommend an hourly fee ranging from $40/hour for early-career artists to $70/hour for artists with over 8 years of professional practice.

If the editor considers that the manuscript cannot be made acceptable through rewriting, the editor may terminate the assignment by providing the writer with written notice and paying the writer 33% of the agreed fee. If the editor requests changes that fall outside the agreed parameters, the writer may charge additional fees for substantial revisions. It is recommended that these terms be negotiated in a contract.

Alternatively, the Professional Writers Association of Canada and magazines such as Canadian Art have guidelines for working with and paying writers on a freelance basis that may be consulted.

See C.1.0.1: What the Royalty covers

For other related royalties and fees payable to visual and media artists, see the relevant category of the Reproduction Royalty schedule, Exhibition and Screenings Royalty schedule and/or Professional Services Fees schedule.

*Specific agreements negotiated under the Status of the Artist Act

Mandatory minimum royalties have been negotiated separately with the NGC, under Status of the Artist legislation.

Note: Copyright collectives, such as Copyright Visual Arts may request higher royalties for their affiliated artists.

C.6.0 • Preparation fees

Preparation is the work associated with producing an exhibition that is done by an artist outside the exhibitor’s premises. Preparation might include correspondence, telephone calls, preparing support materials, proofreading, framing, making necessary modifications to an existing work to permit physical display, overseeing packing and shipping arrangements, or other mutually agreed upon preparation work.

We recommend a flat rate of $400 for up to 8 hours of work accumulated during the ongoing planning of the project.

If the work exceeds 8 hours, we recommend an additional hourly fee ranging from $40/hour for early-career artists to $70/hour for artists with over 8 years of professional practice.

See C.1.0.1: What the Royalty covers

For other related royalties and fees payable to visual and media artists, see the relevant category of the Reproduction Royalty schedule, Exhibition and Screenings Royalty schedule and/or Professional Services Fees schedule.

*Specific agreements negotiated under the Status of the Artist Act

Mandatory minimum royalties have been negotiated separately with the NGC, under Status of the Artist legislation.

Note: Copyright collectives, such as Copyright Visual Arts may request higher royalties for their affiliated artists.

C.7.0 • Installation fees

Installation means overseeing or participating in the installation or de-installation of works for an exhibition on the presenter’s premises. Activities associated with the installation may include unpacking or packing of works, placing works in an exhibition space, ordering, hanging, calibration of equipment and software, adjustment of equipment, and so on. Where the participation of the artist and/or their specialized technician(s) is essential to the installation of an exhibition, each person will be compensated for their services separately.

See C.1.0.1: What the Royalty covers

For other related royalties and fees payable to visual and media artists, see the relevant category of the Reproduction Royalty schedule, Exhibition and Screenings Royalty schedule and/or Professional Services Fees schedule.

*Specific agreements negotiated under the Status of the Artist Act

Mandatory minimum royalties have been negotiated separately with the NGC, under Status of the Artist legislation.

Note: Copyright collectives, such as Copyright Visual Arts may request higher royalties for their affiliated artists.