The company I work for asked if they could use logo designs I created as a freelancer on their website to market the logo design portion of their company on lead generation sites.
My take is that my clients would not appreciate seeing their logos showing up on a company’s website that they’ve never dealt with. The other issue I have is that I’ve signed a non-compete and a contract which states that any work I create during my employment remains the copyright of the company I work for. I feel wrong giving them my work when I legally can’t use work I’ve created while working for them on my online portfolios. Is there a more concise copyright infringement that is being violated here that I’m not aware of? What would you do in this situation?
Getting your client’s permission is probably the easier side of things [although it’s absolutely essential].
I’d suggest a very polite, open conversation – this probably isn’t worth jeopardizing a job over. They should be amending your non-compete to reflect your freelance work given their desire to incorporate it and provide you with with an agreement that, should you leave the company on any terms, the logos will be taken down. Basically you want to show them that you’re happy to help the organization but think like a business manager here and are concerned for the opinions of your clients, their brand and your own.
Thanks Ted, appreciate your response. I’m not comfortable asking clients about using their work because I’m not comfortable with handing it over to someone else. I think amending the non-compete is a great idea, or at least having a contract regarding this work specifically.
I was thinking that I have some spec work that didn’t pan out that I could give them to use and change the names of the companies that are on them. (Yeah I know spec work is bad, but when you’re learning you have to make mistakes.)