I srsly have no clue about what recent stuff this is about but I guess I know whom your are talking about. XD

If my customer says "hide that cleavage", I will try to persuade him not to, but ultimately it's his decision and this is just "work" and the "customer is king". If I don't like it I may refrain to work with them again but I don't say "YOU TAKE IT THIS WAY OR YOU GET NOTHING, SO YOU HAVE TO START COMPLETELY FROM SCRATCH ALTOUGH YOU HAVE NO TIME AND THE PICTURE HAS ALREADY BEEN SHOWN".

Noone would, would one?

But to be honest I hate working with licensors in the background, but my invoices resemble that, so it's ok.

But to get back on topic it is completely normal.
There is a difference between being an artist and doing art (as a craftsmen)... and artists usually aren't good businessmen.

Edit:
Oh but there's one Thing I don't get.
How come you (he) does a full cab artwork for Kaminkow to pitch a license inside Stern.
So if the licensor disagrees I get that, but why would you pitch a license with a completely finished artwork inside the company?

Sorry I killed the thread!

Love your work ZY!

Love Stern for the most part.