Question to other professionals out there.
I am having trouble getting my clips or assets of my work at one of the studios that I worked for. What is the best way to handle this. I know since I created the work I still retain my copyrights. What is the best way to get a copy of my work? They are not very cooperative with my request. What do you guys do to get copies of your work?
Replies
If you are in the US, chances are pretty good that this is not correct. I don't know how the law works in other places, but in the US, if you create work for a company, the work is owned entirely by the company unless you have a contract stating otherwise.
-caseyjones
Other than that I would refrain from posting anything until you get the green light, preferably in writing. Good luck!
lol I can't believe there is someone in the CG industry that actually thinks this :poly142:
Read your contract before you sign it, seriously.
On the other hand, make sure you have copies of your work at all times. Your last day at work usually isn't the day you want to hang around and copy stuff to an external hdd on. Ofcourse, it's too late for that now, so check your contract for a clause on portfolio presentation. I've had a few of those in contracts, and usually it tells you to get written permission before you put it online anywhere, but at my last job they were very lenient about it.
fixed.
Absolutely, even beyond that, ask them about this during your interview, or your first day on the job. If they have some funky wording in the contract that would prohibit this(as can be the case sometimes) this is really your only chance to get a revised contract. Most places will let *artists* show off their work, that the studio has approved, after the project is done.
And yeah, NEVER wait until after you've left the studio, you dont want to risk having some sort of hard feelings about the way you left, etc. Once you're gone they could care less about you, and really have no reason to help you out.
Like with Nightmare before Christmas. Burton did the first sketches at work, and so Disney owned the designs. Worked out better for him though, it made funding and distributing it easier.
Only repeating the above. It belongs to the company. You're the one not cooperating with them. When the product is released, or perhaps soon before, you may ask to post some screenshots of work you've done.