Terms Of Service

All purchases of art and/or concepts by zhenmiao are subject to these terms.

Breaking any terms here may result in being blacklisted or other actions.

By going through with a purchase, you are agreeing to the terms listed.

Section 1. Payment

  • All prices are in USD and to be paid with USD.

  • Unless otherwise stated, payment is to be done via PayPal.

    • The PayPal account must be owned by the commissioner or have verifiable proof of permission to use said account.

  • I will not accept monetary payment from minors.

  • Full or partial refunds are not given once work has started.

    • Make sure you are able to safely pay before seeking work from me.

    • Exception for partial refund may be made in extraordinary circumstances which must be discussed and I reserve the right to still deny any form of refund.

  • Charge-backs will be contested and will result in a public warning and blacklist.

  • Payment plans may be offered for anything over $100 and must be discussed prior to payment.

    • I reserve the right to refuse any payment plan.

    • If you do not complete the payment plan as scheduled, no refunds will be given for what was paid and no work will be delivered.

  • If you change your order after an invoice is sent, a penalty fee will be applied.

  • Deadlines cost an additional fee regardless of how far out it is.

  • It is up to me if there are any exceptions to what is listed above. Exceptions are given sparingly and do not expect me to consider you an exception.

Section 2. Art and Illustrations

  • I will not draw content promoting religions, political ideology, or bigotry.

    • Religious imagery is okay if it does not promote joining the religion.

  • I will not draw infants or adolescents.

  • Fetish work must be discussed with some method of age verification.

  • I will not completely redo a concept once it has moved past the initial sketch stage.

    • Three total redoes of the sketch stage will be given before a fee is imposed. Make sure you describe what you want thoroughly or be okay with the reality of interpretation.

    • Refunds will not be given.

    • No exceptions are given for Closed Species in this section.

  • By default, my work has no permission for commercial usage.

    • Commercial usage must be discussed and have specific arrangements covered in Section 6 of these terms.

  • Modifications of any of my work is not allowed without explicit permission.

  • I reserve the right to use any work I produce for self promotion, art examples, portfolio entries, or other reasons unless otherwise discussed.


Section 3. Original Concepts and Custom Concepts

  • Original concepts, or adopts, remain my full intellectual property.

  • Custom concepts, or customs, remain my full or partial intellectual property.

  • The adopter has digital and physical ownership of adopts or customs until that is relinquished to another.

    • I do not reserve the right to revoke an adopt or custom once it has been completed.

    • The prior owner likewise cannot revoke ownership once it has been transferred.

  • I will not completely redo a concept once it has moved past the initial sketch stage.

    • Three total redoes of the sketch stage will be given before a fee is imposed. Make sure you describe what you want thoroughly or be okay with the reality of interpretation.

    • Refunds will not be given.

    • Customs for Closed Species will also follow this. Make sure the CS owner or mods approve the sketch.

      • A total redo will be allowed past the sketch phase but it will cost a significant fee.

  • Adopts or customs cannot be resold for higher than their original monetary value with the exception of when they have pieces commissioned with money added to their gallery.

    • Their price cannot be adjusted for economic reasons.

    • Their price cannot be adjusted for personal art with the exception of when they have been appraised.

      • I reserve the right to refuse to appraise the value of art and therefore refuse the validity of price adjustment for it.

  • By default, every adopt or custom has no permission for commercial usage.

    • Commercial usage must be discussed and have specific arrangements covered in Section 6 of these terms.

  • Modifications of any of my work is not allowed without explicit permission.

  • I reserve the right to use any work I produce for self promotion, art examples, portfolio entries, or other reasons unless otherwise discussed.

Section 4. Communication

  • A commission will not be started unless communication has been established.

  • If the commissioner fails to communicate adequately, a commission may be canceled with no refund.

    • Warnings and notifications will be given prior.

  • If the commissioner puts a pause on a commission greater than a month, a commission may be canceled with no refund.

    • Warnings and notifications will be given prior.

    • PW: cat orb

  • I reserve the right to take the time I need to complete a piece without communicating the span of time till completion.

    • An exception is made for those who have requested and accommodated for a specific deadline.

  • I reserve the right to refuse to work for you without an explanation for why.

  • To purchase any kind of NSFW content (including gore), I must be able to have some confirmation of age or be personally familiar with you.

Section 5. Credit Allocation and Reproduction Rights

  • My work is, by default, intended for personal use only.

  • Do not remove my signature from my work and only post watermarked versions publicly.

  • Credit me anywhere something produced by me is posted.

  • Do not post my work on deviantArt, instagram, pixiv or other similar image hosting site without my explicit permission.

    • Fanworks are allowed to be posted on sites like reddit, twitter, etc as long as direct credit is given.

  • Posting my work on character hosting sites such as toyhou.se is allowed if you have the digital and physical ownership of the piece.

    • The work must watermarked appropriately.

Section 6. Commercial Usage

  • Commercial usage is defined as using art, concepts, or other work by me to profit via merchandise, advertisement, mascot, species, etc.

    • This includes using it as a public persona for YouTube, Twitch, and other sites.

    • This includes using it for a v-tuber avatar.

  • Commercial rights are not given by default and must be discussed with me personally to obtain.

  • Commercial rights for merchandise requires a percentage of sales to be allocated to me.

  • Commercial rights for advertisement will typically be a one-time fee and depend on the type of advertisement.

  • Commercial rights for a mascot such as a public persona or avatar requires the following:

    • I am given exclusive or semi-exclusive rights to producing merchandise content for a discussed amount of time with a minimum of a year.

    • A fee must be given.

  • Commercial rights for a species regardless of closure status (i.e. closed species, open species, or in-between) requires the following:

    • I am given the rights to producing paid content such as adopts or customs permanently.

    • I am given the right to create personal content within the species without restriction.

    • A fee must be given.

  • I will not make prints or other sales based on commissioned pieces or customs unless we have arranged for that to happen.

Section 7. Blacklist

  • Those on my blacklist are not allowed to obtain art, customs, adopts, or other works I have made from me or others.

    • If they were obtained prior to being blacklisted, they can retain ownership but cannot regain ownership once it has left their possession.

    • Those who supply them with my work may be added to the blacklist.

  • I am not obligated to give notification or reason why someone has been added to my blacklist.

    • Continued attempts to ask me for why someone has been added will be counted as harassment.

  • Harassment of those on my blacklist may lead to being added to the blacklist.