senrikyu

Well, here's the thing: I actually used a "standard" contract that says that my company retains copyrights and the right to display it in our portfolio. In theory, this is a non-issue. The problem arises when the client (in this case an ad agency) abuses that. What do you do then? Do you pay out a lot of money to a law firm to take it to trial, or do you just let yourself get screwed? Just because it's clearly stated in the contract, doesn't mean you just snap your fingers and the abusing party stops using your work.

This is actually the FOURTH time that this issue has arisen- the other three incidents involving sub-contractors. Even though we do most of the work in my firm, I do occasionally send some parts of the projects to sub-contractors. Even though they sign NDA/non-competes, that doesn't stop them from claiming credit.

For instance, I used a CAD company in India to do some of my geometry and interactive work and found out over a year later that they had posted the project on their new website without telling me. Another time, I posted a position on a job board and received a portfolio with one of my current- and unfinished- projects in it! It turns out that the overseas 3D sub-contractors I was using had sent him some draft animations as examples and he had gone ahead and put them in his own portfolio!! ("Just a misunderstanding and it will never happen again.") It gets worse: a year later, the same guy responded to another posting and the same piece was still in his portfolio.

More letters to lawyers, threats, blah, blah, blah.

Is it just me, or is this a rampant problem in the industry? And don't get me wrong- I don't mind people showing the work if they: A. ask our permission first, and B. document what role they played in the creation of the piece.