Intellectual Property (IP) and creating a portfolio

[wadavis]

When preparing a portfolio of past projects to accompany a personal resume:
[ol 1]
[li]Which IP belongs to who? Are 3D model shots property of the employer, or copyright of the modeler that produced them?[/li]
[li]What have I produced belongs to me and can be used without permission? I understand that design calculations are property of the designer unless otherwise stated, but they are not as useful in a portfolio and that borders on distributing trade secrets / trade knowledge. What about photos from site visits?[/li]
[li]Where does advertising material produced by others fit in? Can it be used unedited with accreditation? Are there any relevant fair use clauses? [/li]
[li]Is patented material fair game? But patent documents tend to be scrubbed down fairly thoroughly and lack the presentation desired in a portfolio.[/li]
[/ol]

As relevant background info this is consultant engineering in Canada while no clauses relevant to IP in employment or client contracts.

wadavis
E.I.T.

 

[IRstuff]

Generally, anything that the company paid you to do belongs to them, exclusively, unless your contract has specific provisions for shared ownership. Check your contract

Anything that you do on your own on company equipment or software is at least partially owned by the company. Check your contract

Anything that you do on your own that's partially related to your paid work may be owned by the company. Check your contract

Any patents awarded to you for work down for the company is generally owned by the company. Check your contract. However, since patents are public knowledge, citing a patent will not get you into any trouble.

TTFN
faq731-376

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Of course I can. I can do anything. I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

 

[wadavis]

Thanks for the input IRstuff, you've made made your point unmistakably clear. I honestly appreciate it.

For any future readers, if you are a staff employee you are generally considered by default to be performing Work For Hire under American copyright law. Meaning nothing you produce (including preliminary/draft work) belongs to you. If you are doing contract work, it is more nuanced.