On 25 July 2026, the BOE published Royal Decree 607/2026, of 22 July. It regulates the special employment relationship for artists in the performing, audiovisual, and musical arts, as well as those performing necessary technical or auxiliary activities. It shall enter into force ten months after its publication; the BOE record indicates 25 May 2027.
For those who draw comics or illustrate, the question is whether it applies to them. In its text, it does not do so explicitly.
Matters regulated
The decree replaces Royal Decree 1435/1985 and fulfils a mandate from Royal Decree-Law 5/2022. It regulates written contracts, the probationary period, indefinite contracts and fixed-term artistic contracts, compensation upon the termination of the latter, protection against violence and harassment, travel and tours, the work of minors, intellectual property and image rights, remuneration, working hours and rest periods. Article 4.a provides that, in matters not regulated by the royal decree, the Workers’ Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores) and other generally applicable labour regulations shall apply, insofar as they are compatible with the special nature of this employment relationship.
All of this rests upon a definition. According to Article 2, the special relationship is that which exists between the employer who organises or produces an artistic activity and the individual who performs it on behalf of and within the scope of the organisation and direction of the former, in exchange for remuneration. That is to say, employment.
Who is included
Article 3.1.a lists, in an open-ended list, among others, people who perform dramatic, dubbing, choreographic, variety, musical, singing, dancing, background, or specialist activities; those in artistic direction, cinema, orchestral work, musical adaptation, stagecraft, production, choreography, or audiovisual work; circus and puppet performers, magicians, and scriptwriters. It adds 'any other person whose activity is recognised as that of an artist, performer, or executant' by the collective bargaining agreements applicable in those three areas.
It includes dissemination via the internet, including streaming. It excludes private artistic performances.
Illustrators, draughtsmen, and comic authors do not appear on that list.
Why a comic author is excluded by the definition itself
There is a deeper reason than the absence from the list. The decree regulates an employment relationship. An author who publishes a comic typically does so through a publishing contract, which the Intellectual Property Act defines in its Article 58: the author assigns to the publisher, in exchange for financial compensation, the right to reproduce their work and the right to distribute it, and the publisher is obliged to do so at their own expense and risk. It is an assignment of rights, not employment.
The primary route for borderline cases lies in Article 2.b. The decree includes technical and auxiliary personnel directly linked to the artistic activity and essential for its execution, provided the company does not conduct such activity on a structural or permanent basis. A storyboard artist or an illustrator contracted for an audiovisual or stage production could be included via this route; it depends on the actual activity, its essential nature, and the nature of the contract. Recognition by agreement under Article 3.1.a operates as a distinct possibility for artistic activities in the strict sense.
Copyright in the decree
Article 14 refers the intellectual property rights of artists to the Intellectual Property Act. It adds an obligation: when a worker receives remuneration for assigning exclusive rights that are not collectively managed, that amount must appear expressly and separately on the payslip. This only applies to those within the scope of the decree.
Instruments for those paid for assigning rights
Publishing contracts and the assignment of rights are governed by the Intellectual Property Act, which regulates the transfer of rights and the publishing contract separately. Its current consolidated text should be consulted, as recent reforms have added obligations on remuneration, transparency and revocation. To read them, use the BOE's consolidated text.
Illustrators' associations publish their own material. The Federation of Professional Illustrators Associations (FADIP), comprising APIC, AGPI, APIM, Euskal Irudigileak, and APIV, offers a White Paper, Nine Golden Rules, Illustrator's ABC, and an Economic Study, and relaunched the Price It Right campaign on 2 September 2024. APIM also publishes contract templates and sector-specific guides. I have not read these documents, and I have not located the creation date for either organisation nor any dated versions of their fee schedules.
A testimony: more rights than fees
Juan Albarrán, a draughtsman from Barcelona who works for Kodansha, explains in an interview with The Comics Journal that there is no industry in Spain and that almost everyone who wishes to earn a living from comics must work for other markets. He states that his Japanese contract is confidential and that he cannot discuss finances. He does, however, draw a comparison: his page rate for manga is lower than what he earned inking for DC, and he pays his assistants out of his own pocket; yet, according to him, he receives income from his series for translated editions, adaptations, and merchandise, which was not the case with superhero comics.
This is an author's opinion on his own contract. It illustrates, without proving, that what is decisive for an author is not employment: it is which rights they retain and how they are remunerated.
Missing data
I have not located methodologically sound income data for comic authors. A White Paper on Comics in Spain was disseminated, presented in January 2024, containing a figure based on a sample of 650 professionals. I have not found its primary source or its methodology, and therefore I do not cite it.
I am also unaware if any collective bargaining agreement recognises illustrators of audiovisual productions as artists.
Scope for comic authors
In my view, recognising artists in a labour regulation protects those who are employed. It does not affect the finances of those who are paid for assigning rights and work on a self-employed basis, which is the usual situation for those who draw comics. For them, the instrument that matters is the publishing contract and what each author negotiates in it.
To publish on screen without assigning more than is necessary, consult How to publish a webcomic without depending on a platform. And for the market context, The comic market in Spain.
An open conversation
This text distinguishes between verified figures, inconsistent data, and interpretation. Should you work with employment or publishing contracts within the comics sector and be able to clarify a specific case, you may write to me.
The author's relationship to the cases
There exists no financial, professional, or collection-based relationship with FADIP, APIM, Kodansha, or the other entities cited.
Sources
- Royal Decree 607/2026, of 22 July (BOE-A-2026-16173).
- Intellectual Property Act, consolidated text (BOE), arts. 43 to 48 and 58 to 71.
- FADIP, Federation of Professional Illustrators Associations.
- APIM, Professional Association of Illustrators of Madrid.
- The Comics Journal, interview with Juan Albarran.