I don’t know if my designs are legal – did I steal someone else’s work by using the wrapping paper? Or is the use considered acceptable because I used only portions of the wrapping paper to create a different piece of work? What are the laws governing this?Ī. A friend recently asked if I was selling the cards. Using small illustrations on scraps of wrapping paper, I pasted the scraps to pieces of cardboard then mounted each cardboard piece to card stock for a raised design. I created the cards using scraps of wrapping paper we had at the house. I have also posted the designs on my portfolio Web site. I designed a series of Christmas cards that were sent to friends and family. The safest practice is to explicitly address this issue in your agreements with your employer or clients, or check with them before you include the works in your portfolio. Postal Service has an infamous policy of not allowing artists to show any works created for the post office, even works that ultimately were not published. Showing the work privately to other prospective clients may be of less concern. For example, your employer may want public credit for the work itself, and thus may object to your conflicting online disclosure that you created it. That being said, there may be some circumstances when portfolio use could be a problem. In this case, the purpose of portfolio usage is to accurately document your work, so showing the entire work is reasonable. Factor 3, how much of the original work was copied, is evaluated by asking whether the amount copied was reasonable in relation to the purpose of the new use. Factor 2, whether the work is more creative or factual, doesn’t really matter because you are showing your own artwork. The remaining two factors are essentially neutral in this situation. They still have exclusive rights to control use of the work in the publishing market or to promote sales of goods and services. Showing your work in your portfolio does not compete with your employer’s or its clients’ market as the copyright owner of the work. You would not be making money directly from reselling the portfolio piece rather you would be paid for the new design that you create for the new assignment.įactor (4), the effect on the potential market for the original work, further supports the non-commercial nature of portfolio use. However, that is not the type of profit making that weighs against fair use. It could be argued that self-promotion is “commercial” use because your ultimate goal is to generate more design assignments. The “purpose and character” of portfolio usage is to accurately document your work and thereby promote your services as a commercial artist. The most persuasive fair use factors in this situation are:ġ) the purpose and character of your use andĤ) the effect on the potential market for the original work. As a practical matter, showing your work in your portfolio is a common and accepted practice in the design field, and the copyright owners rarely object. Most copyright lawyers, myself included, believe that reproducing your own work in your portfolio (whether in print or online) is fair use, regardless of who owns the copyright. But is it okay to use some of these pieces in my portfolio? And more specifically, my online portfolio site? What about designs I completed at previous employment sites (ad agencies, etc.)? Would it be acceptable to use some of the designs as examples of previous work when applying as an independent contractor for a temp agency?Ī. I realize that the rights to all work I complete on the job belong to my employer, and in some cases the clients that hire us for services. I am Senior Designer at a small publishing company in San Francisco where I design all in-house advertising materials for clients and sponsors.
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