Old employer wants to use my design work

[designcat]

I am leaving my current job. In this role I have done a lot of design work for the company, all which I designed myself. I wasn't employed to do the design work, it was something I did in addition to my role and because of my design background I spent a lot of time on promotional materials for the business. I didn't mind putting in the extra effort at the time and lots of people commented on how great they looked but soon after the company weren't particularly good to me, negative director etc and I have found another job.

The company are now asking for my original documents I used to create the designs so they can edit them for their future work. I feel a bit uneasy doing this and feel why should they benefit from my designs when I won't be in the role and they haven't paid me any extra for these particular designs or been a very good employer. Could I just say no? Or ask them to reference me if they use my designs? The thing is I may be working with them again in some context (through my new company) so don't want to burn bridges entirely but also uncomfortable with them using my design work going forward. How should I approach this?

If you look at your contract it will probably say something along the lines of 'any extra duties as appropriate'. Therefore if you did at your employer's place and whilst being paid by them, they own it. If you did it in your own time, then you gave it too them and they still own it. You could try putting your name on it, but likely it will be removed when updated.

I’m pretty sure that work you produce for an employer whilst you are working for them belongs to them. Have a read of your contract - it might be in there.

Thanks both. I had a look at my contract and intellectual property rights section and it seems to say the employee owns these for the work that they produce. In this case I will own the rights for my own designs.

What is a polite way to say I do not want them to use my designs?

Did you produce them in work hours and/or using work resources (computer, software, etc)?

It's standard for a designers contract to state that the company own all work you do while employed by them. Unless agreed with them prior to you doing the work. This also covers work done out of work hours.

It's unusual for employees to own the copyright to work / designs produced in work time, at their behest and using their software.

If you produced them in your employers time I'd say the employer owns the copyright. If you didn't then you may own it. You probably need legal advice on this I'd say. But if they intend to use your designs and tweak them then thats not really on.

If you were considering your designs to be freelance work separate from your employment (and done outside of working hours and using your own equipment) you should have agreed ownership and a price in a contract before starting.

What you did is no different to someone writing a report, creating an amazing excel macro that automates processes or anything else which is outside their normal job description then saying they don't want the business to use after they leave.

Not worth burning bridges for if you are going to work with them again in the future. People network, do you want them to say designcat did a great job while here on our promo material or oh designcat 🙄 left us in the lurch, when she left she acted very unprofessionally removing all the promo material masters, she did while working for us, cost us a fortune to recreate everything.

Unless the design has been registered at the patent office, I don't know how their contract can carte blanche say that the IPR is "owned by the employee". IPR and ownership of an invention or design is a legal process that takes time to have lodged at the patent office and confirmation that it's unique.

Not sure you'd be able to retrieve what you've already delivered to them (is it in electronic format?). You could try to convince them you've disposed of the original files but if they are stored on your work computer, you shouldn't delete the files, as it could become incredibly nasty.

If it's material that is only of interest and relevance to their organisation, I'd take a magnanimous approach rather than being a bit sour grapes about it - it isn't as if you're going to be able to make money out of it elsewhere is it?

Your sting in the tail is that you're taking your talent elsewhere and they won't be able to benefit from your skills anymore!

Hmm difficult one. What exactly will you do with these designs if you don't let your previous employer have them? It's not like you could use them with another company if your current one has been using them for marketing material.

Look at the long haul, if you think you may have to deal with the company again at some point it's not a wise move to piss them off, no matter how nicely you tell them. Are you going self employed? Will your new role mean you have to deal with them? How would you feel if the company refused to deal with you, it wouldn't look good to your new company if a customer said they don't want you on the account team.

Pick your battles would be my advice, sometimes you can get more out, if you're helpful and you did do these designs in work time. I used to work for a large IT company and anything you created in, or outside of work they had the rights to

It does seem unusual that copyright in your work resides with you. If I were you, I'd play it super nice by playing willing but being slightly unhelpful on a practical level, maybe procrastinate, hand over incomplete files, not all the files, say you junked originals once the final proof done...It's for you to judge how much you will burn bridges by how you act and how that will impact on your future work with them.

The other thing to bear in mind is that this design work wasn't part of your core duties so your employer supported you in expanding your skills et during their time. The quid pro quo was they got some material, you got some creative experience.

I'd say that was reason enough to say yes happy for you to have the designs, and leave on a happy note they'll remember you by (it would make you look worse than them if you did it any other way!)

Skills et = skillset

I think you should be the bigger person and leave on a professional level. Why would you want to tarnish your reputation - even if you feel that the company has not treated you right - people move on and you cold find yourself losing opportunities in the future as person x now works at amazing new company B and gossips about how you acted when you left company A.

Maybe not the most moral answer (but seeings as you said they treated you badly) I'd just say I don't have them anymore sorry.

Not worth burning bridges for if you are going to work with them again in the future. People network, do you want them to say designcat did a great job while here on our promo material or oh designcat 🙄 left us in the lurch, when she left she acted very unprofessionally removing all the promo material masters, she did while working for us, cost us a fortune to recreate everything.

This.

It's ever so dog-in-a-manger-ish to refuse to provide the design master documents. You've already got the recognition for them, you've already got a new job, there is nothing you could use them for again realistically (because it would look lazy and odd to copy the designs for some new business) and you never know when you need people's goodwill.

Stick your name on the files, or add a discreet 'Design by designcat' on the bottom, and feel free to use them on your portfolio or website to advertise your skills, and stop thinking that you're giving something away. You're gaining goodwill instead. An InDesign doc is neither here nor there, really.

Thanks all. Just to clarify this isn't about providing the designs I have already done in the role. They already have these and when I produced them everyone knew I had designed them. They have now asked for the original design templates so they can continue using them. They want to produce new work with the designs I have already done - changing words but still using my layout/colours/logos etc. This is what I am unhappy about as I will probably get no recognition.

Design was not part of this role, something I did in addition because I have the skills to do this, so I didn't sign any copyright doc.

IMO the fact your arent employed as a designer is irrelevant. If you did them in work time and/or on a work computer then you have to hand them over.

Even if you did them in your own time, on your own computer. I'd hand them over anyway, rather than burn bridges. I'd put money on

From what I can have they aren't of any use to you. It's not like it's a print or illustration that you could print in merchandise yourself and make money out of.

Plus I'd put money on the fact that if you don't give them the original files they'll find a way to use what document they have to create something similar anyway. They'll just hack at it and create something looks awful. Then it could come back and reflect badly on you.

Did you do the design in work hours or in your own time?

Are you in the office or working from home? If home then ignore requests until you leave.

They have now asked for the original design templates so they can continue using them. They want to produce new work with the designs I have already done - changing words but still using my layout/colours/logos etc. This is what I am unhappy about as I will probably get no recognition.

I do understand what you meant, and I still think you’re being short-sighted in not giving them the templates. If you want to be compensated ask them for a small fee, but refusing to allow a company to continue using promo designs you made for them seems dog-in-the-manger.

You’ll get credit for the original design - the layout/colours/logo. The words they use after isn’t part of the design branding. You’ve already had the credit and recognition from the design.

Like I say, you could ask for a small fee for the template files and/or you could ask for a design branding credit to appear somewhere small on it. But not handing them over and thereby forcing them to recreate the files or come up with a new design/brand seems petty and also short-sighted. What will you use the templates for otherwise- you’re not losing out? And if the designs continue to do well for them you can continue to point to them as an example of your good design skills.

If I was commissioning you to design something for me - promo material etc - then the ‘design’ fee would include source files. That would be my expectation when we discussed the job. You could price higher if you didn’t want to provide source files.

The issue here is that you didn’t charge at all at the outset. But you’ve gained in increasing skills, getting recognition and (now) by understanding you should have asked for a bit of a fee.

Did you do them during work time and/or using work computers? Many people do things outside of their job description without extra compensation.

I designed posters, leaflets, etc in a previous role. It wasn't part of my role at all, but somebody had to do it. When I left, I put all the templates etc on the shared drive and showed a colleague how I normally edited them.

There's no point burning bridges by making somebody duplicate your efforts, and you can't use Company X's designs at Company Y. As others have said, you can still put them in your portfolio/website when applying for design jobs.

I'm quite surprised that you are surprised tbh. You don't own the work that you did for your employer. All of that sort of thing should go automatically into a handover.

Lose the master files.

'I'm so sorry, the template files were unfortunately lost. I'd be happy to recreate them for you, this should take me approximately X hours, so would a fee of £Y be acceptable to you?'

Obviously this only works if the files are on your own computer and you would have to actually recreate the files so the metadata didn't have last year's date on it or whatever. Obviously this is only ethical if you genuinely did the designs in your own time, on your own equipment and were not asked to do them as part of 'other reasonable duties'.

I get it though OP, I've been in a similar position in a voluntary role. I think digital design is undervalued by a lot of people because it's done on a computer - they think you just click a couple of buttons and hey presto. For all they know you need to retain copyright of your templates because you've been using them to generate other freelance design work both before and after this company had the benefit of them.

If they're really shit, you'll send over the templates and they'll then ask how to open the files in [incompatible crappy free online design tool] because of course they don't want to spend money on the same design software you've paid for out of your own pocket.

I'm so sorry, the template files were unfortunately lost. I'd be happy to recreate them for you, this should take me approximately X hours, so would a fee of £Y be acceptable to you?'

This 🌺