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- letters2
time to move on!
- Scotch_Roman0
Good for you, hope you have some place to land. I have a question, do you know anything about intellectual property, as it relates to showing work for previous employers in one's portfolio?
- something related to contract, possibly? no contract = show work?magnificent_ruin
- I never signed a single piece of paper.Scotch_Roman
- +, I have a friend who we almost did work for. He sent me the proposal from my boss. The legal languageScotch_Roman
- says nothing about self-promo rights. Clients own copyrights. That's all it says.Scotch_Roman
- Trouble is, the old boss thinks what I want to do is unethical. You can sue people for anything these days.Scotch_Roman
- letters20
Scotch, There is a fine line here and it depends on where you are geographically as well. The designer/artist owns the rights to their work by default (protected under copyright in I believe all industrialized, 1st world nations). If you sell the rights to that work, then technically you no longer can claim any ownership - however this becomes fuzzy when someone shows work for promotion noting that they worked on the project, and sites the owner, which is a legitimate action to take if you didnt sign anything saying that you couldn't.
That being said, the best way to go about this is to have a conversation with the client prior to the project beginning. Either have the contract state that the designer can show the work for self promotion, or come to a verbal agreement if the contract just has a general "client owns the copyright" clause. Of course, the prior arrangement is better.
- They're saying the work is the intellectual property of the design firm, not meāeven though I worked on these projects.Scotch_Roman
- Projects. And when I say worked on, I mean I was lead designer, working under a CD.Scotch_Roman
- (Sorry I hijacked your thread!)Scotch_Roman
- Scotch_Roman0
Here's the deal: my former employer, a design firm, is claiming they have exclusive self-promo rights to the work, and that while it's OK for me to show work I did in interviews, that I cannot show it on my website. But, since I never signed anything, I wonder if they would really have the legal right to come after me. I'll burn that bridge if I have to (though I'd rather not), but I really can't afford to be dragged into court... at the same time, without being able to show that work, the job hunting process becomes severely crippled. If I can't show work, I'm not sure how I can get work. BTW 90% of the work I was going to put on my website was done for this firm. Without it, there's not much point in having an online portfolio.
- how are you allowed to show it in person but not online. that seems fucking flimsy and arbitrary7point34
- Public vs. private? Who the hell knows. Thing is, these people haven't had to look for a design job in 20+ years.Scotch_Roman
- So they have no frame of reference for what's required these days, merely for one to get a foot in the door.Scotch_Roman
- babaganush0
Can't you credit that the work was done for them as an agency? I don't think any court would uphold a claim against someone that legitimately needed to demonstrate their skill in order to get work.
- I told them that my plan all along was to credit the work, and clearly state the role(s) I played. No dice.Scotch_Roman
- I was even going to say in my bio section that work done for (list clients) was designed with the team @ (name of firm).Scotch_Roman
- That way, for every project, I'm covering my ass not once, but twice. If anyone reads the copy,Scotch_Roman
- They'd see immediately that I'm not claiming ownership of those clients in any shape or form.Scotch_Roman
- dropdown0
Scotch_Roman:
What about making the site as you would normally and making a login form on the front page. Then when you email your portfolio link to an prospective employer, you can include a username and password. Not ideal, but may get you around the old firms issues for now.- I've considered doing that. That's a last resort. I want people to be able to find me, you know?Scotch_Roman
- Drum up some hype on here and elsewhere, etc...Scotch_Roman
- It looks suspect and paranoid if I make my site private, don't you think? To the outside observer, I mean.Scotch_Roman
- And it's not like it would be smart to tell prospective employers about this nightmare.Scotch_Roman
- You could always lie and say your worried about bandwidth. :)
Hopefully it won't take long to find a new gig, and you can move on.dropdown - ...find a new gig, and you can move on.dropdown
- letters20
Scotch, to be clear... did you sign a contract signing away your rights?
- Scotch_Roman0
^
There was no contract. They *talked* about non-compete when they hired me, but I never signed anything, nor did they even ask for a signature. The only things I ever signed there were tax forms.This just in: I spoke with an IP/copyright attorney who's been doing this for years. He informed me that they have no legal grounds to come after me, since I didn't sign a contract, and since I'll be sure to credit the firm and state the role I played. He said they could still sue me for emotional damages or something, but that any claims they'd make about copyright violation would not hold up in court.
His professional advice was to proceed with my website as planned.
- Orbit0
Scotch, check your mail sometime.
- I just did... only have an email from Spooky. Is that you?Scotch_Roman
- JSK0
Verbal confirmation can be enough for contract but you can show that NDA is norm of the industry and is usually signed
- We never discussed whether I could show work, only whether it would be appropriate to freelance while working there,Scotch_Roman
- as well as the fact that I couldn't work for their clients within 18 months after leaving.Scotch_Roman
- Done and done. I don't even want their freaking clients and their bureaucratic anarchy.Scotch_Roman
- letters20
Scotch, you have nothing to worry about. You own the rights to your work, regardless of any conversations around. You own it and in fact can show it in whatever way you want.