Legal issues surrounding an online portfolio

I am a web developer based in London, UK. As part of my personal website, I include examples of projects I have worked on. This includes projects that I have worked on personally along with projects I have worked on during my time with two previous employers.

One of these employers is now insistant that I should remove all work from my portfolio relating to my time working with said company.

I'm reluctant to do this, since I rely on showing examples of previous work to gain new employment opportunities. I'm a bit confused about the legal implications surrounding this issue. Most (95%) of the projects in my portfolio are publically available websites - I simply screenshotted and wrote some text about what my role was. I have never signed any "Non Disclosure Agreement".

I'm not sure if the issue is the actual screenshots themselves that the employer has an issue with, or just the mere mention of the projects. To remove all mention of projects would mean rewriting my CV and would seem particularly draconian. But then if it's just the screenshots, these are publically available to everyone - by the very nature of a website!

Has anyone else had similar experience with a previous employer and what was the outcome?

http://davegardner.me.uk/experience/

Thanks

EDIT: A few people have suggested that reason is the best plan - speak to the previous employer and come to a compromise. I agree this is the best plan. But what if this just isn't possible? What if keeping them onside is just not an important consideration anymore? Is it possible to enforce removal of items from online porfolio?

IMO, you have the right do show what is publically available, as long as it's not negative for the company's reputation.

You also have the right to explain what was your role in these projects, as long as you didn't sign some kind of non-disclosure agreement.

This said, you should remove what your former employer asked you. Why ? Because you're showing what you did to a potential new employer, which could contact your former employer. Right, the one you just did upset by not doing what he kindly asked... See what I mean ?

Don't put it in your portfolio, but don't hesitate to mention it during an interview.

Edit : About the code

I'm not sure for UK, but in France, everything you designed/wrote/whatever during your working hours belong to the company. So you don't have the right to show any code, or go too deep in the designing/technicals details.

Stick to what your role was, and what you did.

I'm talking about screenshots of websites along with an explanation, eg: "I worked on blah blah and created the blah blah." No actual code.

Dave 2009-09-21 07:46:14

If the website is private (internal) this is not appropriate either. But furthermore, if the owner of the work requests it's removal, you really just need to comply.

Noon Silk 2009-09-21 07:50:43

No one can make you take down a screenshot of a publicly available website that isn't being used for the purpose of duplicating its content.

phoebus 2009-09-21 08:50:19

phoebus: I actually never said that; but also, I don't think you are a lawyer, so I see no reason to make explicit statements like that if they could be inaccurate. Furthermore, it makes 'good sense' to me to comply with requests of your clients; it's only polite.

Noon Silk 2009-09-21 09:03:20

Good point, and also what I like to do is put in my cover letter or resume that a portfolio is available on request. You can simply keep your portfolio online but under a login or something and then supply access to prospective employers who wish to see it.

Evernoob 2009-09-21 08:35:29

An access-restricted portfolio is a non-sens. Your portfolio should be open to anyone who wants to know about you.

Clement Herreman 2009-09-21 09:13:36

It's a possibility. However I'd rather keep the screenshots. They make the site *look* impressive and give a good clear idea of what was built without people having to read the words. Also shows how it looked at time of being built. Things move on, websites change. Linking to a website may end up giving false impression of my role, by showing off a next-generation of a website that I didn't actually work on.

Dave 2009-09-21 08:07:37

a picture speaks a thousand words. screenshots will be better for the use to get an idea of what the proj if abt, and if they want to see more, they can visit the site. if i just see a link, it may not be "interesting" to click. too many links ... v bad

iceangel89 2009-09-21 08:16:05

Yeah, this is all true, an image is the ideal way to do it. I'm just thinking of worst case though, could you use a logo instead of a screenshot? If you are saying that reasoning with them just totally isn't an option, or totally isn't working I think it's probably just easier to comply rather than fight it (even though I suspect you would probably win a fight). Have you considered replacing the images with "screen shot removed at clients request" notices, that would comply with the request and also show to future employers that you played nicely.

Simon P Stevens 2009-09-21 08:33:04

If you do decide you want to fight it seek legal advice first. No one here is likely to have the required legal experience to give you a definite answer, and you don't want to risk fighting it if you are in the wrong - although like others have said I would assume that when it comes down to it they can't stop you including a screen shot that is in the public domain anyway - I've got a browser plugin that screen shots web pages an displays them alongside my Google searches, what are they going to do, sue the plugin makers and Google too?

Simon P Stevens 2009-09-21 08:36:09

Some nice thoughts there Simon! I think you're probably right about advice. I guess I was looking for an initial sounding board. Next steps is to try to seek more formal advice.

Dave 2009-09-21 09:55:15

Thanks. One more thought I had - I took a quick look at your site. You've got 4 pages of screen shots. Are you really going to miss 1. Of course you haven't said but maybe the problem company is related to multiple screen shots, or maybe it's a specific market sector that you would like represented in your list, so it obviously depends on your circumstances. I think what I'm trying to say is, is it worth the hassle for the sake of 1 image? It would be different if you only had 1-2 previous projects, but you seem established enough to be able to manage without 1.

Simon P Stevens 2009-09-21 10:33:55

ansaurus

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Legal issues surrounding an online portfolio

Edit : About the code

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