Re: Portfolio

["D. Margulis" <ampersandvirgule -at- WORLDNET -dot- ATT -dot- NET>]

Rose Katz wrote:
>
> Does anyone know who the work you did for a company belongs to. i.e. Can
> you take a sample of the work you did for a company and include it in your
> portfolio?
>
>


Rose,

You can check the archives for detailed discussion of this issue, but
briefly:

1.      If you have written permission on company letterhead from a duly
authorized representative of the company, you can use the specific
samples listed in the letter.

2.      If the work in question is a published, copyrighted work--such as a
manual distributed with retail software in stores or a third-party
manual sold separately in stores--and if your contribution to the work
is significant, you are certainly within your rights to show it as a
sample, as long as you came by your copy of it honestly.

3.      If the work in question is internal to the company--such as
engineering documents that are not made available to customers--showing
the work as a sample will probably be a violation of the confidentiality
agreement you signed when you took the job. Without the explicit
permission described in (1), you should not even possess samples, let
alone show them.

If the material in question falls outside of those three categories,
assume you do not have the right to show it. "Work for hire" rules cover
everything you write for an employer and generally state that, barring
contractual agreement to the contrary, the employer retains all rights
the work.

HTH


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