To be annoyed someone has lifted some of my work and used it in a presentation without at least asking?

[Lex345]

Fully prepared to be told I'm a grumpy, joyless shit lol

I have a niche knowledge base that is not common for where I work and I have been working on projects bringing some of my expertise into the field. Part of this was a training suite which has been going on for well over a year.

This week, I was on an unrelated training session and my ACTUAL EXACT work (not changed, exactly the same) was used. I didn't know it had been used in this way and no one has asked. I didn't even know it had been disseminated.

AIBU to be a bit peeved? (I am also a bit flattered, but mainly peeved)?

I really feel for you and I’m sorry this has happened - it’s crap. I do think it may work ‘in your favour’, if you see what I mean (not that it needs to, but hopefully you see what I mean) as your training is more complex and in-depth, so it will show that they have taken their info from your training pack rather than it being the other way around.

I came on to say this…anything I produce or discover etc whilst working for the company I’m in…belongs to them.

Thank you for this-I am not sure how to "enforce my ip" (I am not the most tech savvy in the world!).
How this work was created as a timeline if this helps-private in my drive in google drive.
Shared by invite only for view only access to 4-5 people.
I think I can see view history though
I will have a think about who I should speak to. The trainer themselves will not be the one here-they just present the deck

@Lex345 no way are you being an arse. Your boss laughing about it makes them sound like the arse round there! It's out of order. If it comes to it is just go to the person who the 'pitch stealer' presented to and just show them how it's yours. 'It was great that Garry presented my work to you the other day. As he didn't have much input into the project I just wanted to run through some aspects from my pov. I'm really passionate about this and delighted it went down so well with you' or whatever...haha. don't let anyone steal your crown!

Does make me wonder if I should make the remainder and any subsequent content private and convert to pdf or screenshot only when sharing.

I understand it belongs to the company and again I am fine with this. Its more a professional courtesy issue.

Do something unique graphically on your slides that is within context but would need photoshopping out. A flick of colour, an ornate initial set.

that would help limit and gate keep your information then in theory they should ask permission unless they have the full document and if they needed directly rewrite it all

Thank you for reassuring me I am not being petty to be a bit miffed and I can definitely learn from this as well.

I won't lose too much sleep over it, but will think of a way to mention it and ask for a quick courtesy email as an FYI if more is intended to be used

You haven’t responded to anyone who has asked whether you’ve done this as a ‘paid expert contractor’ type position or if you’re employed by the company.

if the latter it isn’t yours, it’s theirs. That’s how it works. You could comment on the fact it’s not been delivered in an appropriate manner but otherwise you don’t have control over something jus5 because you were the paid employee that created it

I think I did respond just above saying I understand it is owned by the company; but in case this was missed I understand it belongs to the company-however it might be prudent to not teach it back to me ;)

I wouldn't go to the person who plagiarised it

I'd go their bosses boss

random question do you like mice ? @Lex345

Well this is re enforce your IP
But it does not seem appropriate since the company owns your work
Enforcing Your IP: Tactics for Protecting Your Assets (lawdit.co.uk)
However. If you intend to you the unbowdlerised version of your work, you may say This was used previously in an unauthorised version of my research.
God, I learnt that word unbowdlerised from my dad. Legend

I'd take it as a compliment that it's obviously a good piece of work if they chose to use (steal) it! But yes, I would be miffed I wasn't acknowledged.

Absolutely make it not shareable at least until you have presented it.

Mice-tasty. Or so so my house foxen says

Yep hide it

This happened to me many years ago before we were all so tech savvy.

I went to a course where someone presented my presentation badly and without understanding the content.
at the break I asked them about the origins and they blatantly lied.
so in the afternoon session I starting asking questions about the basis of the work, how they formulated x and y. It was clear to all they hadn’t done it.

I then emailed my boss and theirs explaining where I had delivered this, that their delivery was poor and actually not correct in legislation. That I was happy to provide training to them if they wished to continue to use it. That I expected an email to go out with acknowledgments and a corrected version of information or I could disseminate this information myself?

got a very sheepish manager on the phone with no idea this wasn’t their work!!!

I feel like I don't understand this question 😂

I'd have said something in the training, "oh actually that's been taken from something I'm working on, there's going to be more training covering that in more detail but in the meantime do you want me to give a bit more context and talk it through?"

But if I produce things at work then I fully expect other people to use it. Clearly they're the ones with egg on their face if they haven't properly understood it. The fact that it's not been trained out properly is the issue, because the person who put it together didn't understand it and the "trainer" wasn't trained.

This. Once you prepare something in the workplace, it belongs to the organisation. In my place of work, it would be fair game to use it for the good of the org for whatever purpose and in any future materials. You don't own what you create in work, work does. The best mentality would be "this is being used for the good of the company", and that's the right thing.

I am not sure how to "enforce my ip"

You don't own the IP for anything produced in/for work. Work does.

Just email the presenter and explain that you noticed that they have used your work in the presentation and you’re not sure have they came to be in possession of it, but it is part of a larger piece of work and you are concerned that without the context it is not representative of what the work was about.

Also email the people who have legitimate access and explain that you were at a training session where your work work shown as reiterate that it is not for sharing without prior discussion because without context it can be misrepresented

I would start the conversation directly with the person concerned, behind the scenes and in a non-judgemental, non-accusatory way. Assume positive intent, or at least that the person you think has done you wrong, may not be the right person to aim your frustration at. The last thing you want to do is go all guns ablazing (figuratively speaking) accusing them of stealing your work if it wasn't their intention and / or if they got hold of the information through someone else without knowing it was yours.

ask them where they got the information from, before telling them they're unprofessional. In an academic setting, it is custom and practice to credit all work to the author, but information in organisations flows round a lot more freely and the originator isn't always credited. Not good, but it happens.

The OP said it was on a shared drive…