What is the legality of putting projects in your web portfolio?

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+8 Q:

What is the legality of putting projects in your web portfolio?

I have been with a company for over 3 years, and I have always put the work I do for them in my portfolio. Their company is unrelated to programming. They have known about me having the work I do for them in my portfolio. Today they told me that the work I do for them they own and to remove any all their projects and any reference to their company off my site. The projects I had in my portfolio are were entirely made by me (no team) and it is about 90% of my entire portfolio. If I remove them I mine as well remove my whole portfolio. In my portfolio I am clearly just trying to show examples of my work. Right now my portfolio is open to public but if I put a password on my portfolio and only allow access for potential clients to see it, and it is not public.

Where do I stand legally?

+1 A:

If you signed an agreement stating that any work you produce for them is theirs, then you're pretty much out of luck.

Otherwise, I'm not certain if there are laws in place to protect the company where you're from, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Honestly, after a stunt like that, I'd be looking for another job right away.

Edit after comments:

Saying 'I did that project' and pointing to something publicly available and giving away the source to look at are completely different things. If they're telling you you can't do the former, definitely get your resume out there and start actively looking for work.

Also, of course, I am not a lawyer, and this should be taken with a grain of salt. Except the looking for a different employer part.

Andy Mikula 2009-03-05 22:46:06

I am seriously considering it, but with the economy the way it is..it is scary.

John Isaacks 2009-03-05 22:49:32

Actually, if they own the copyright on the code and you've been publishing it publicly for years, I'm surprised you still have a job.

tvanfosson 2009-03-05 22:55:59

I haven't been publishing code..I have has images of GUI that link to the live version that they host publicly

John Isaacks 2009-03-05 22:58:39

The images are copyrighted as well. Legally, you can't host them. You can probably list the projects as ones you've worked on, with links to them, but can't host the images without their permission.

tvanfosson 2009-03-05 23:02:48

I understand that, but does that apply to password protected directories that I only allow potential clients/employeers to access?

John Isaacks 2009-03-05 23:04:23

Copyright applies to any and all use of the materials; that would include giving people password protected access to them as well. You're *still* asking legal questions here, and still most likely going to have your butt sued off. ** TALK TO AN ATTORNEY! **

Ken White 2009-03-05 23:06:08

Copyright means that you can't legally make a copy without their permission -- except in cases covered by acceptable use. Pretty sure this doesn't meet that definition.

tvanfosson 2009-03-05 23:08:36

... If you keep infringing after having been told to stop, you are also no longer able to claim "innocent infringer" status and may be liable for damages.

tvanfosson 2009-03-05 23:09:29

Thanks...I realize you guys are not attorneys and nothing you say is actual legal advice...Knowing that, I still wanted your thoughts before I forked over lawyer fees. Thanks.

John Isaacks 2009-03-05 23:09:52

@tvanfosson: Hmmm... There's a copy without their permission (they're asking for it not to be used, which means they're not giving permission) on the OP's website. How does that not meet the definition?

Ken White 2009-03-05 23:13:54

@ken-white does showing a screen-shot that links to their publically viewable site. Count as a copy?

John Isaacks 2009-03-05 23:20:41

I don't know. I'm not an attorney. An attorney is the one you should be asking, for the tenth time! Either consult an attorney, or take down the portfolio; doing anything else is probably going to get you in severe hot water.

Ken White 2009-03-05 23:26:27

Thank you Andy, yes they are saying the former...and yes I took it down

John Isaacks 2009-03-05 23:55:13

+11 A:

Do not ask legal questions on a programming site, especially when the wrong answer can cost you lots of money when you're sued and lose.

Consult an attorney in your own area, who will be familiar with local laws and regulations. Otherwise you're leaving yourself open for major pain.

If you don't want to pay an attorney, take the portfolio down regardless of what you think. It's the only 100% safe way to handle it without knowledgeable, responsible legal advice from an attorney.

Ken White 2009-03-05 22:49:10

Asking a legal question is reasonable, because he's asking about the experiences of other programmers. And in this case, the likely result is going to be hundreds of people saying "Consult a REAL lawyer!" and "It's Not Yours! Don't Get Sued!"

2009-03-05 22:51:33

But +1 from me for some solid advice.

2009-03-05 22:54:23

See the reference on my post: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_for_hire. You'll probably save money on the lawyer and get the same result -- it ain't yours.

tvanfosson 2009-03-05 22:54:43

@devinb: No, it isn't. The laws in the jurisdiction the OP lives in are probably very different than those where I live, and where you live, and so on. Someone else's experience has absolutely no relevance, unless that experience involves the same exact company and location and portfolio.

Ken White 2009-03-05 22:59:41

And yet he got a very wise answer from you, so posting here yielded the correct result. Granted, you can't assume that the 'wisdom of the crowd' will work, except that this community is based on the fact that we can recognize a good answer when we see one. Yours slid to the top because it is best.

2009-03-05 23:33:15

@devinb: :-) Point taken. I was actually surprised to see how few people actually offered legal advice, and how many said the same thing I did. It was a nice surprise, for sure. <g> Thanks.

Ken White 2009-03-05 23:47:58

@ken it is a good thing I posted this Q. I was planning on just going the private viewing route, but now I just took it all down.

John Isaacks 2009-03-06 00:00:52

@unknown: Good idea. :-) I like my money in my pockets instead of someone else's whenever possible.

Ken White 2009-03-06 00:04:43

This depends entirely on whether or not you have a contract, what is in that contract, and where (in what country) you live. The question, as asked, is too general to be answered in any simple way.

Eddie 2009-03-05 22:49:34

I live in Pennsylvania, I am a full time employee but I don't think there was any "contract"

John Isaacks 2009-03-05 22:51:22

Didn't you sign an employment contract? Very often, this kind of thing is specified in your employment contract or something else you signed at that time. Smaller companies may be less organized or less careful about this.

Eddie 2009-03-05 22:53:09

(Not a lawyer, but...) if you don't have an agreement, AND YOU LIVE IN AUSTRALIA, then you both jointly own the copyright, and you are entitled to post the work. However, if you signed over your IP, then yes, they have a case. Trademarks (e.g. thier logo and tagline) may be different, though.

Edit: You should seek out free legal advice, if such a thing is offered. Don't trust the internet or SO for this sort of thing . . .

Travis 2009-03-05 22:49:49

And you're 100% sure that you're right about this, without knowing anything about where the OP resides, the laws in that jurisdiction, or anything else? Intellectual property laws are the same anywhere on the planet? You're sure about that?

Ken White 2009-03-05 22:52:29

I can almost 100% guarantee that there is something in the contract to protect the company from this. It will be a rare situation where the company DOESN'T have a case

2009-03-05 22:56:15

OP says he's in the US. US Law grants the copyright to the employer, not the employee -- unless he has a contract that states that they assign the copyright to him for any work he creates.

tvanfosson 2009-03-05 22:59:18

Which is the point I made. Travis gave a blatantly wrong answer because at the time he posted he didn't know anything about where the OP lived; it wasn't in the original question.

Ken White 2009-03-05 23:03:34

Much better. I didn't downvote you originally, but if I had I probably would have take it back based on the edit. :-)

Ken White 2009-03-05 23:07:19

+1 A:

It is likely in your contract that your company owns any and all source code that you write while you are working for them. So when/if you leave, then you are not allowed to take your projects with you.

However, if your end result is a public facing product, then you can list them in your resume as projects that you worked on. (I worked on this website, or such-and-such a product) But because the product is within their IP, then you have no rights to it after you leave, and even while you're at the company you are not allowed to use it without their permission.

It would cause significant problems for companies if they could devote millions of dollars in research and development, and an employee could deliver that source code to a competitor.

Even password protecting it and only showing it to potential clients is problematic. Who's clients are you talking about? your own (personal) or potential clients of your company?

2009-03-05 22:50:22

+2 A:

In the US, generally, any work you do for a company that employs you is considered "work for hire" and the company owns the copyright. Other jurisdictions may handle it differently.

tvanfosson 2009-03-05 22:53:20

+1 A:

IMO, it's not yours to make available. In your portfolio you can describe the projects you've worked on as long you don't divulge confidential information. If you need to provide code samples in your portfolio, then write some code on your own time and make it available. The combination of your project history and personal code samples should suffice to demonstrate your experience and ability to write code I would imagine.

Boden 2009-03-05 23:09:04

+2 A:

What does "portfolio" mean? Are you just saying you worked on "such and such project for Company X", with a link or screenshot? To me that seems pretty kosher, unless you have a contract in place that says otherwise. If you're showing code, or detailed screenshots, or claiming complete authorship of a project, then I would be more wary.

Jason 2009-03-05 23:10:03

I've read some of the comments here. I would suggest that you should remove any images, code or whatever might be that the company may claim on.

However, I do not see what can prevent you from posting links on your website to the products of that company - there is no law against that. Also there is no law against putting a nice text next to the link, where you can explain your own participation in the creation of these products.

I am almost positive that the company should not be able to undertake any serious legal action because you just wrote something on your page that concerns your own life and how you've spent your time..

Still, don't do that unless you have consulted with an attorney. That is something you should take as advice about anything important that you want to undertake in your life - always consult with an attorney to check possible legal problems and save a lot of trouble in the future - don't be naive!. Good luck!

Petrunov 2009-05-02 08:56:54

ansaurus

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What is the legality of putting projects in your web portfolio?

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