Kakera Art Commission Terms

These Terms apply to physical, one-of-a-kind artworks obtained through Kakera Art. Sections 1 to 18 govern Commissions — Full Brief, Partial Brief, and Artist's Choice plans, where an artwork is created after an order. Section 19 governs Existing Originals — completed artworks offered for sale as they are — and states which of the preceding sections apply to them.

1. Parties and role

These Terms form an agreement between the customer (“Customer”) and AWAWAWAWA Inc., trading as Kakera Art, of 2F-C, SibuyaDogenzakaToukyu Bld., Dogenzaka, Shibuya Ku, Tokyo, 150-0043, Japan (“Kakera Art,” “we,” or “us”). Kakera Art is the contracting seller and arranges for the named independent artist (“Artist”) to create the artwork. The Artist is not a separate party to the Customer contract unless the Order Summary expressly says otherwise.

2. Eligibility

The Customer must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into a contract. The order form asks the Customer to confirm this; we do not collect or store a date of birth or age. Orders may be accepted only from destinations listed on our shipping page and are subject to sanctions, export, import, carrier, and payment restrictions.

3. Request, acceptance, and contract

Submitting a request is an invitation for review and does not oblige Kakera Art or the Artist to accept it. We may reject a request because of availability, fit with the Artist’s practice, legal or rights concerns, prohibited content, shipping restrictions, or another reasonable operational reason.

Before payment, we will provide an Order Summary identifying the Artist, plan, agreed brief, physical format and materials where applicable, included revision rounds, price in USD, Deposit and Balance, estimated schedule, shipping estimate, publication choice, and the version of these Terms. A contract is formed only when we send written acceptance and successfully receive the first payment — the Deposit for Full Brief and Partial Brief plans, or the full amount for Artist's Choice plans (Section 7).

The version of these Terms displayed and accepted when the request was submitted governs that Commission, even if we publish a later version before the Deposit is paid. We retain the Order Summary as issued, and it is the reference point for what was agreed.

4. Custom-made nature and creative discretion

Every Commission is a one-of-a-kind physical artwork made to the Customer’s specifications or clearly personalised.

Kakera Art sells original art, not an illustration production service. The Customer commissions an original work by the Artist. Material supplied by the Customer serves as reference and inspiration for the Artist; the Artist creates their own artwork in their established style. The Customer is not commissioning an exact mechanical reproduction of a reference, and the finished artwork is the Artist’s own creative work.

Reasonable differences caused by hand production, materials, photography, screen display, texture, or the Artist’s creative judgment are not defects by themselves. This does not exclude a remedy where the artwork materially fails to conform to the agreed Order Summary.

5. Customer brief and third-party rights

The Customer must provide accurate instructions and timely feedback. The Customer represents that they own, or have all permissions necessary to provide and use, every reference image, original character, name, likeness, logo, or other material supplied to us. Where a real person is depicted, the Customer must have that person’s permission where required.

The Customer grants Kakera Art and the Artist a licence to use submitted materials to assess, produce, administer, document, exhibit, and sell the Commission.

The Customer agrees not to assert any right in the finished artwork and consents to its exhibition and sale by the Artist and Kakera Art in accordance with these Terms. This reflects that the finished artwork is the Artist’s own creative work rather than a reproduction of the Customer’s material.

Requests must not include third-party copyrighted characters or other fan art; unlawful, infringing, deceptive, hateful, or exploitative content; sexual content involving minors or persons presented as minors; or content prohibited by our payment or shipping providers. We may stop work if a later-discovered rights or safety issue makes performance unlawful or materially risky. Refund treatment will depend on responsibility and work already performed, subject to mandatory law.

6. Revisions, approvals, and response time

The number and stage of included revisions are stated in the Order Summary. Unless expressly stated otherwise, revisions apply only at the rough stage. A request to change the agreed concept after approval, or to restart completed work, is outside the included scope and may be declined. Artist's Choice plans include no revisions, because only the subject is agreed in advance and every other decision is left to the Artist. During the PoC, the Artist may choose to consider an additional revision without an additional fee, but is not obliged to accept work beyond the included rounds.

The Customer must reply within 30 days of each request for feedback or approval. Customer delay pauses production and extends every estimate. We will send at least two reminders to the registered email address before taking further action.

If we receive no response for 30 days after the first request, we may treat the Commission as abandoned and terminate it after written notice. The consequences depend on which payment stage the Commission had reached:

1. Before the Balance is paid — that is, during or after the briefing conversation but before production has begun — the Commission is terminated and the Deposit is not refunded. The Deposit purchases a reserved production slot with the Artist, which we held and could not offer to another customer; it is not a part payment for materials. No artwork has been produced. The Deposit is capped at a stated maximum amount (Section 7) so that the retained sum stays proportionate.
2. After the Balance is paid — the artwork has been paid for in full. We will not terminate for non-response in this case. The Artist completes the artwork using their own creative judgment for any decision the Customer has not confirmed, and we dispatch it to the address on record. Where we hold no deliverable address, we will retain the artwork and continue to attempt contact.

7. Price and payment

All Customer-facing prices are in USD unless stated otherwise. Payment Links expire on the date shown.

Full Brief and Partial Brief plans are paid in two stages.

1. Deposit. After we accept the request, we invoice the Deposit. It reserves the production slot with the Artist and is credited toward the total price. Paying it places the Commission in the Artist's waiting list. The Deposit is a percentage of the price subject to a stated maximum amount, so that it stays proportionate on higher-priced works. Both the percentage and the maximum are shown before payment.
2. Balance. When the Customer's turn arrives, we hold the briefing conversation. Once the Customer and the Artist agree on the brief, we invoice the Balance together with shipping and insurance. Production begins only after this payment clears. The Artist is not asked to start work before that.

Artist's Choice plans are paid in full at once. Because only the subject is agreed in advance and there is no briefing conversation or rough-approval stage, we invoice the artwork price, shipping, and insurance in a single payment when we accept the request. Production begins after that payment clears.

Options such as framing are invoiced separately after completion, together with any difference in shipping caused by the change in size or weight. This charge arises only where the Customer requests an option. We will not dispatch the artwork or transfer title until cleared payment of all amounts due.

If the Balance remains unpaid 30 days after the due date shown on the invoice, we may terminate the contract by written notice. That notice will state that the Deposit is not refunded, up to the capped amount shown before payment.

On termination at that stage, no artwork has been produced, because production does not begin before the Balance clears. Nothing passes to the Customer and the Deposit is not refunded. The Customer does not acquire any right in the subject, direction, or ideas discussed during the briefing conversation; consistent with Section 4, the Artist may continue to create and sell their own works, including works in the same vein.

Payment card details are processed by Stripe; Kakera Art does not store the full card number.

8. Customer cancellation and statutory withdrawal rights

The Customer may withdraw a request without charge before the contract is formed.

Every Commission is a custom-made (bespoke) item, and cancellation, return, or exchange because of a change of mind is not accepted once the contract is formed. The artwork is created for the individual Customer after the order, to a brief agreed with them; it is not stock we can return to inventory.

Where EU consumer law applies, we rely on the exception for goods made to the consumer’s specifications or clearly personalised under Article 16(c) of Directive 2011/83/EU. Where UK consumer law applies, we rely on the corresponding exception under regulation 28(1)(b) of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. The exception applies from the point the order is placed, whether or not production has begun. We do not ask the Customer to waive any right that cannot lawfully be excluded.

This is stated again before payment. The checkout confirmation carries the acknowledgement: "By purchasing, you acknowledge that this is a custom-made product and exempt from the 14-day right of withdrawal."

9. Cancellation by Kakera Art or the Artist

If Kakera Art or the Artist cannot complete the Commission for a reason not caused by the Customer, we will cancel it and refund all amounts paid for the unfulfilled Commission, including any shipping amount not used. The refund will be sent to the original payment method. Bank, card-network, and exchange-rate timing is outside our control.

10. Shipping, customs, and delivery

We ship only to eligible destinations shown on the site. The Customer must provide a complete deliverable address, telephone number, and any lawfully required customs identifier. We will not declare a false description or value on customs documents.

Unless the checkout expressly says that duties are prepaid, shipments are delivered with import charges unpaid. The Customer is responsible for customs duty, import tax, VAT/GST, clearance fees, permits, and information required by the destination country. We cannot guarantee the amount or customs classification applied by an authority.

The Customer must cooperate with the carrier and accept delivery. If an artwork is returned because of an incorrect address, absence, refusal, unpaid import charges, missing Customer information, or import restriction attributable to the Customer, the Customer is responsible for reasonable return, storage, and reshipment costs. We will contact the Customer before reshipping or otherwise dealing with the returned artwork.

Risk passes no earlier than physical delivery to the Customer or a person designated by the Customer, except where mandatory law provides otherwise. Ownership of the physical artwork passes only after full cleared payment and delivery.

11. Loss, damage, and non-conformity

The Customer should inspect the package promptly. For transit damage, retain all packaging and report it through the contact form on the site as soon as possible and preferably within 7 days of delivery, giving the order number. We reply with an automated acknowledgement; attach clear photographs of the artwork, packaging, and shipping label to your reply to it. The 7-day period is met by the form submission, not by the photographs. This reporting request helps us meet carrier-insurance deadlines and does not shorten a mandatory statutory claim period.

If the artwork is lost before delivery, arrives damaged, or materially fails to match the Order Summary, we will investigate and provide an appropriate remedy, which may include repair, a mutually agreed alternative, or refund. Because each work is unique, an identical replacement may be impossible. Nothing in these Terms limits non-excludable consumer rights.

12. Copyright, ownership, and permitted personal use

The Artist retains all copyright, moral rights, and other intellectual-property rights in the completed artwork. Buying the physical original transfers ownership of that tangible object only; it does not transfer copyright or any commercial-use right.

After full payment, the Artist grants the Customer a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to:

1. possess and display the physical original for personal, non-commercial purposes; and
2. post photographs of the original on the Customer’s personal, non-commercial social-media account, with credit to the Artist where reasonably practicable.

The Customer must not reproduce or distribute copies; sell prints or merchandise; use the work in advertising, branding, monetised content, a product, token/NFT, dataset, or AI training; materially alter the work and present it as the Artist’s work; or grant these rights to another person without written permission.

The Customer may later transfer the physical original, but no copyright or reproduction right passes with it. A request made primarily for speculative resale may be rejected.

13. Portfolio and publication choice

Publication is the default. The Artist and Kakera Art may photograph and publish the finished artwork for portfolio, editorial, archival, and promotional purposes, including websites, exhibitions, and social media. The Customer’s real name and contact details will not be published.

The order form offers a private option. A Customer who selects it before payment excludes the artwork from the publication described above. The option is presented on the order form with its terms, if any, shown before ordering. The Customer may also request the private option, or withdraw a previous consent to publication, by emailing support@kakera.art before first publication. If published material is personal data, the Customer may exercise applicable privacy rights, including withdrawal of consent where consent is the legal basis. We cannot recall copies already lawfully downloaded or reshared by unrelated third parties, but will address future use and removal requests as required by law.

14. Communications

Contract notices, approvals, payment links, production updates, and delivery messages will be sent to the email address supplied by the Customer. The Customer must keep it accurate and check spam filtering. Marketing emails are sent only where separately permitted and may be unsubscribed from at any time.

15. Liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including liability for fraud, wilful misconduct, gross negligence where applicable, or mandatory consumer remedies. Subject to that sentence, neither party is liable for indirect or consequential loss that was not reasonably foreseeable when the contract was formed.

16. Events outside reasonable control

Neither party is responsible for delay caused by an event reasonably outside its control, including serious illness, disaster, war, government action, customs hold, carrier disruption, or failure of essential infrastructure. The affected party must notify the other and take reasonable steps to reduce the effect. If delay becomes substantial, the parties will discuss a revised schedule or cancellation and an appropriate refund reflecting mandatory law and any unperformed portion.

17. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of Japan. The parties will first attempt in good faith to resolve a dispute through support@kakera.art. Subject to non-excludable consumer rights, Tokyo District Court has jurisdiction at first instance. This clause does not deprive a consumer of mandatory protections or a right to bring proceedings in the consumer’s home jurisdiction where applicable law grants that right.

18. Changes, severability, and language

The version displayed and accepted when the request was submitted governs that Commission. We may revise these Terms prospectively; a later version does not retroactively change an existing Commission unless both parties expressly agree or law requires it. If one provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue to apply to the extent lawful.

Relationship with the statutory disclosure page. These Terms govern the contract. The page published as “Disclosure under Japan’s Specified Commercial Transactions Act” (/legal) is a statutory disclosure required by Japanese law; it summarises the same arrangements but does not create, vary, or limit the contractual terms set out here. If the two differ on a contractual matter, these Terms apply.

The English version is controlling. The Japanese translation is for review and convenience. If the two differ, the English version prevails, except to the extent mandatory law requires otherwise.

19. Existing Originals

An Existing Original is a completed artwork offered for sale as it is. It is not made to the Customer's specifications, so the sections above that concern briefing, revisions, staged payment, and production do not apply to it. This section states what does.

Sections 1, 2, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 apply unchanged. Section 11 applies with the same 7-day reporting request. Sections 3 to 9 and 13 do not apply.

Payment. The artwork price, shipping, and insurance are payable in full in a single payment. A contract is formed when we accept the order and that payment clears. Ownership passes after cleared payment and delivery.

Each work is unique and is withdrawn from sale once sold. Where two orders arrive for the same artwork, the earlier cleared payment prevails and we refund the other in full.

Cancellation and return. The Customer may return an Existing Original within 14 days of delivery for a refund of the artwork price, provided the artwork is returned undamaged and in its original condition. Return shipping is at the Customer's cost, except where the return is due to transit damage, non-conformity, or another matter that is our responsibility, in which case we pay it. We will confirm the return address and method before the artwork is sent back; a return shipped without that confirmation is at the Customer's risk.

Because a returned artwork is re-imported into Japan, we may need customs information from the Customer to complete the return.