Copyright,
Licensing &
Ethical Use

Scope of these terms

These terms are issued by Alexander Sestakovs, working under the artist name Q888, referred to below as “the Artist”.

They apply to original illustrations, artworks, characters, graphic designs, digital images, animations, merchandise designs, website artwork, and other creative material produced by the Artist.

For commissioned work, the version referenced when the commission is agreed will apply. A project-specific quotation or licence schedule takes priority where it expressly differs from these general terms.

Copyright ownership

Unless a separate written agreement expressly states otherwise, all copyright and intellectual property rights in the Artist’s original contribution to the artwork remain the property of:

© Alexander Sestakovs / Q888

Payment for creative work, design time, a physical artwork, or delivery of a digital file does not by itself transfer copyright ownership.

Copyright will only be transferred through a separate written document that expressly states that copyright is being assigned, identifies the relevant artwork and rights being transferred, and is signed by the Artist.

Names, logos, trademarks, photographs, or other material supplied by a client remain the property of their respective owners. Including them in commissioned artwork does not transfer ownership of the Artist’s original contribution.

Licence to use commissioned artwork

Where usage rights are included in a commission, the client receives only the licence described in the written quotation, commission confirmation, or project-specific licence schedule.

Unless otherwise agreed, any licence is:

• non-exclusive;
• non-transferable and non-sublicensable;
• limited to the agreed purpose, products, and media;
• limited to the agreed quantity, territory, and duration; and
• effective only after full payment has been received.

A client may provide the artwork to an appointed printer, manufacturer, or production partner solely to produce the authorised items. That production partner receives no independent right to retain, reuse, modify, sell, or distribute the artwork.

Any use not expressly included in the agreed licence requires additional written permission from the Artist.

Commercial and merchandise use

Commercial use includes clothing and merchandise; packaging and labels; advertising and promotional campaigns; posters, menus, and printed material; websites, applications, and social media campaigns; products offered for sale; event branding; corporate identity material; and licensing to another organisation.

Permission for one product or purpose does not automatically permit use on another. Permission to produce an agreed quantity of hoodies, for example, does not include T-shirts, posters, packaging, advertisements, resale licences, or unlimited future reprints.

Additional quantities, products, territories, or campaigns must be agreed separately.

Reprints and production quantities

Where a licence specifies a production quantity, the client must not produce more than that quantity without written permission.

Samples, production tests, replacements for defective items, and promotional copies should be included in the agreed quantity unless otherwise stated. Further production runs may require an additional licence fee.

Alterations and adaptations

The artwork must not be substantially altered, redrawn, animated, recoloured, materially cropped, separated into individual elements, or combined with other material without written permission.

Reasonable technical adjustments required for an authorised use, including proportionate resizing, file conversion, print preparation, or minor cropping that does not remove the signature or materially change the artwork’s composition or meaning, are permitted.

Any substantial alteration or adaptation must be approved by the Artist before publication or production.

Attribution and moral rights

The Artist asserts the right to be identified as the creator of the work under sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Where reasonably practicable, published or commercially used artwork must be credited, unless the project-specific licence expressly states otherwise:

Artwork by Q888 / Alexander Sestakovs

The Artist does not waive the right to object to derogatory treatment, false attribution, or materially misleading presentation of the artwork unless expressly agreed in writing.

Where credit cannot reasonably appear directly on a product, it may appear on accompanying packaging, product information, a website, campaign credits, or another suitable location.

Q888 characters and artistic projects

A licence for one artwork does not grant ownership of, or broader rights to use, recurring Q888 characters; character names; logos or signatures; visual symbols and iconography; existing artworks; source files; project worlds or narrative material; or other elements of the wider Q888 artistic practice.

A character appearing in commissioned artwork may not be adopted as a permanent mascot, logo, trademark, brand identity, or continuing commercial character unless separately licensed in writing.

No claim is made over general artistic ideas or styles that copyright law does not protect. This section concerns the specific artwork and identifiable creative elements belonging to the Artist.

Source and working files

Editable source files, layered files, sketches, unused concepts, rejected versions, working documents, and production materials are not included unless expressly listed as deliverables.

Delivery of a flattened image, print-ready file, or physical artwork does not create a right to obtain the underlying source files.

Artificial intelligence and automated processing

Unless expressly authorised in writing, artwork supplied by the Artist must not be:

• used to train, fine-tune, or evaluate an artificial intelligence model;
• added to a machine-learning or image-generation dataset;
• uploaded to a generative system for imitation, variation, or style transfer;
• used to generate replacement, derivative, or competing artwork;
• used to construct digital avatars or automated character systems; or
• tokenised, minted, or attached to a blockchain-based asset.

Ordinary technical processing necessary for an authorised use—such as image compression, colour separation, or print preparation—is permitted.

Portfolio and exhibition use

Unless confidentiality or an embargo has been agreed in writing, the Artist may display commissioned artwork on the Q888 website; in portfolios and applications; on social media; in exhibitions; in publications; in talks and presentations; and for archival and self-promotional purposes.

Where a project has not yet been publicly released, the Artist will make reasonable efforts to respect an agreed publication date.

Unauthorised use

Use outside the agreed licence does not become authorised merely because the artwork has been supplied, paid for, published previously, or made available online.

Where unauthorised use occurs, the Artist may request that the use stop, that unauthorised copies be removed, that production information be provided, and that an appropriate retrospective licence or other remedy be agreed.

Attempting to resolve a matter informally does not waive the Artist’s copyright or other legal rights.

Legal exceptions

Nothing in these terms is intended to prevent uses expressly permitted under applicable copyright law, including applicable fair-dealing and statutory exceptions.

Changes to these terms

The version supplied or referenced when a commission is agreed will apply to that commission. Later changes to the website terms will not automatically replace a version incorporated into an existing agreement unless both parties agree in writing.

Governing law

These terms and any related commission or licence are governed by the laws of Scotland, unless mandatory law requires otherwise. The courts of Scotland will have non-exclusive jurisdiction in relation to disputes arising from these terms.