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Can you put company projects in your portfolio as a freelancer
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It's a question that we get all the time and today we'll dive deep into the answer
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Stay tuned. Hey guys, it's Josh here again with Millo.co where freelancers come to level up their business
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And today we're answering another question from the Facebook group. Can I include agency work in my personal portfolio
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Here's how group member Lisa puts it. I've been a graphic designer for 17 years now and have decided to fly solo
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So I'm attempting to get my portfolio together. I'd like to display some previous work I'm really proud of, but I'm wondering if I need
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permission from the studios where I produced it. Figuring out whether or not you can actually include previous projects in your portfolio
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as a freelancer can be a challenge. But today we're going to explain exactly what you should do to stay out of legal trouble
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Although we have lots of experience working with freelancers, we are not lawyers
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This video is also sponsored by Hectic. More on them later in the video
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And remember, if you subscribe to this channel and leave a comment on this video telling
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us what to cover next, we'll enter you to win $1,000. Okay, here are a few questions that you should ask yourself when trying to determine whether
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or not you should include previous work in your freelance portfolio. First, do you own the copyright to the work
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If the answer is yes, then of course you can include it in your portfolio
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But keep in mind, just because you created something doesn't mean that you own the copyright
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We'll cover more on that in a minute. If the answer is no, then you'll legally need to get permission from the former employer
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company, or agency for whom you accomplished the work before you can display it publicly
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If you're not sure whether you own the copyright, then keep watching. We'll help you figure it out
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Question number two, did you complete this project for an employer? If the answer is yes, then it's most common and very likely that your former employer
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owns the copyright to the work that you produced, and you'll need their permission before
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you can legally show it in your portfolio. This is only the case for most full-time employment contracts, not necessarily client contracts
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If the answer is no, then you most likely own the copyright to your work
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Make sure to check applicable laws in your country, but in most countries, you don't
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have to file for official copyright. You simply own the copyright to anything you've created, unless otherwise stated
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in a contract, such as an employment agreement. Also keep in mind, even if your employment contract doesn't explicitly list who owns
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portfolio display rights or other intellectual property rights, the most likely scenario
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is that your former employer owns the work you created for them
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Even if you didn't sign anything, most courts would likely rule in favour of your employer
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since most employee-employer relationships are work-for-hire by default. You can learn more about how a work-for-hire agreement affects you as a freelancer by reading
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the article we'll link in the description of this video. And if you still aren't sure whether you can include your previous work in your freelance
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portfolio, you've got to move on to question number three. But before we go there, I'd like to take a minute to thank this video's sponsor, Hectic
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Hectic is a powerful all-in-one suite of tools for freelancers. You can literally do almost anything needed to grow a successful freelance business within
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the Hectic app. From proposals, to time tracking, to client management and calendaring, Hectic is our
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current favourite tool for freelancers who want to grow. Plus, if you like learning with video, you'll enjoy Hectic Academy, which is 100% free
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In Hectic Academy, you can learn how to run your freelance business like a pro from experts
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who've done it all before. Learn more at millau.co forward slash Hectic or by clicking the link in our description
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And thanks to Hectic for supporting this video and freelancers everywhere. Okay, now on to question number three
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Did you complete this project for a client? If the answer is yes, then knowing whether you can put company projects in your portfolio
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comes down to your original contract. If you don't have a contract, then by default, you own the copyright and you can display
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the work however you like. If you do have a contract, you'll want to check for the words, work for hire
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This particular phrase means the client legally owns any work you produced for them and you'll
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legally need their permission to include the work in your portfolio. Barring that phrase or any other legal agreement, giving your client the rights to the project
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you most likely own the copyright and can put it in your portfolio with no issue
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If the answer is no and you also didn't create it for an employer, then you likely
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own the portfolio display rights for this project. You can include it wherever and however you'd like
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If answering the previous three question, you're still not sure if you can use agency
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work in your personal portfolio, there is a very simple solution. Just ask for permission anyway
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It is by far the simplest way to put previous work in your portfolio without any legal problems
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But what if you left on bad terms with a previous employer? Not everyone leaves their job on good terms
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Some people hate their former boss and can't fathom the thought of emailing them to ask
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permission to put company projects in their portfolio. But unfortunately, if you worked as an employee for a company while you created work for them
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then, legally speaking, you're a bit stuck. You can't legally show projects in your portfolio that you created as an employee
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without permission from the company you worked for. Of course, you can always take your chances and put company projects into your portfolio anyway
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But instead of immediately suing you, your former employee would most likely send a cease
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and desist letter first, asking you to remove it from your portfolio, in which case, you
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absolutely should. Again, we're not lawyers. We recommend that you seek legal counsel if it's complicated
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And that's it. Three questions you can ask yourself to know whether or not you can include previous in-house
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work in your freelance portfolio. Remember, we're giving one freelancer $1,000 for leaving a comment and telling us what
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to cover in our next video. For now, I'm Josh with Millo.co and we'll see you next time
