At my previous firm, I worked on a mixed use project in which a large international firm was the main designer and we were the local architect, during schematic design, the clients weren't satisfied with their design as it wasn't meeting the local codes. Later in early 2019 they made us as the main architect and I was the Design Lead. We revamped the design completely and came up with many options. The client was satisfied with the outcome. Went upto SD. Later, they wanted completely new design, which even I solely developed with multiple overtimes. The client was partly unsatisfied with retail zone, though it was looking cutting edge and was okay with the overall approach, this was in early 2020. The client hired a junior architect and developed basic layouts of one retail zone, which was for 2 floors. We developed that zone based on their sketch. Later on it was only our firm who was purely directing the design. Recently, I came across a portfolio of that junior architect of 2 years experience, in which he has used the renders of the facade, concept diagrams which was developed by me, where neither the client was involved in developing it nor he was involved in coordinating those. He has even used the images I developed before he was employed by the client. I accidentally came across this guy, that he's working with my current firm for a year. How do you think I should deal with this guy?
bennyc
Oct 25, 23 6:22 am
Technically, the materials you are mentioning are the property of the firm you worked for, or developed them under. So they are not really yours to protect. Plus it sounds like this was a multi faceted design phase with many different parties involved, multiple revisions, etc.
Unless you think this guys referencing of those designs is hurting your business , I don't see how going after him is beneficial to you or your time.
Chad Miller
Oct 25, 23 9:59 am
In this case it sounds like the jr arch is using images and material they didn't create or work on and passing it off as their own. That's illegal. I would contact the jr arch and give them a chance to remedy this 'oversight'.
On a side note:
You can use any images and material from projects you worked on in your portfolio without permission from the firm. If you didn't create the images or materials being used you need to give credit to who made them otherwise that's illegal. You also need to make clear that the images / materials were created while working at a particular firm if you weren't the sole creative force behind them.
Besides making everything legal it's just the right thing to do and speaks to your honesty and integrity.
gwharton
Oct 25, 23 11:16 am
It's not necessarily illegal, but it is extremely unethical and shows poor judgment on the part of the junior. I would take that as automatically disqualifying for employment.
Chad Miller
Oct 26, 23 10:04 am
Oh, it's illegal. It's jus that unless you can show finical loss it's just misdemeanor copyright violation and not worth going to civil court over.
gwharton
Oct 26, 23 4:42 pm
Like I said, not necessarily. It might fall under fair use for professional documentation.
Chad Miller
Oct 26, 23 6:08 pm
It could. It probably wouldn't fall under the fair use if you're using images you didn't create to show off your rendering skills or images of parts of projects that you didn't work on. All depends on the state and if you got anything for using them in such a manor. I know of an architect in MN that did something like this. Used images of a design process for a part of a project he didn't work on in a proposal while working at firm B. Said architect did work on the project while at another firm, firm A, just not that part. The firm A sued him and won. This was because firm B got the project.
gwharton
Oct 26, 23 7:34 pm
Using it in a proposal to get work would be a copyright violation because it would be for commercial use. Putting it in your resume/portfolio probably would not. That's what I'm driving at here. Now, if the person is using the work to make a false claim about their work experience, that's unethical and maybe even fraudulent (depending on the circumstances), but it's not really a copyright violation.
Chad Miller
Oct 27, 23 10:14 am
Using another persons work to make a false claim about your work experience is still a copyright violation. It would need to be made by the person who did the work. Typically all that will happen is that the accused is forced to remove the copyrighted material and possibly pay legal / court fees. I should know. I had to sue someone to stop them from using images of my work in their online portfolio.
natematt
Oct 25, 23 12:14 pm
I would nicely tell them they are doing something unethical by representing work they did not produce as their own. And then kindly recommend they should remove the work and avoid doing this in the future as it is likely to seriously impact their professional connections in a very small field.
reallynotmyname
Oct 26, 23 9:48 am
I agree that the offender is probably ignorant of what they are doing wrong and needs to be informed about the right way to do things. Most young people are clueless about the correct way to use images and credit projects they worked on as someone else's employee.
natematt
Oct 26, 23 5:48 pm
Realistically, I think someone like this should be smart enough to understand that it’s not ok, and probably just doesn’t expect to be called out on it. However, at this point it seems like the actual damage is basically zero and it’s mostly just an annoyance. So it seems better to start off from a compassionate angle for everyone’s sake.
bennyc
Oct 27, 23 5:39 pm
If speaking nicely to him does not work , next time you run into him at water cooler , just grab a plastic cup and crush it in your hand in front of his face and drop it on the floor, then take another cup and drink water as usual and go back to your chair. If that doesn’t work , then next time you come to office , start putting his framed picture on your desk instead of your family or kids . I have found this technique worked for me in the past with folks that took credit for my work.
At my previous firm, I worked on a mixed use project in which a large international firm was the main designer and we were the local architect, during schematic design, the clients weren't satisfied with their design as it wasn't meeting the local codes. Later in early 2019 they made us as the main architect and I was the Design Lead. We revamped the design completely and came up with many options. The client was satisfied with the outcome. Went upto SD. Later, they wanted completely new design, which even I solely developed with multiple overtimes. The client was partly unsatisfied with retail zone, though it was looking cutting edge and was okay with the overall approach, this was in early 2020. The client hired a junior architect and developed basic layouts of one retail zone, which was for 2 floors. We developed that zone based on their sketch. Later on it was only our firm who was purely directing the design. Recently, I came across a portfolio of that junior architect of 2 years experience, in which he has used the renders of the facade, concept diagrams which was developed by me, where neither the client was involved in developing it nor he was involved in coordinating those. He has even used the images I developed before he was employed by the client. I accidentally came across this guy, that he's working with my current firm for a year. How do you think I should deal with this guy?
Technically, the materials you are mentioning are the property of the firm you worked for, or developed them under. So they are not really yours to protect. Plus it sounds like this was a multi faceted design phase with many different parties involved, multiple revisions, etc.
Unless you think this guys referencing of those designs is hurting your business , I don't see how going after him is beneficial to you or your time.
In this case it sounds like the jr arch is using images and material they didn't create or work on and passing it off as their own. That's illegal. I would contact the jr arch and give them a chance to remedy this 'oversight'.
On a side note:
You can use any images and material from projects you worked on in your portfolio without permission from the firm. If you didn't create the images or materials being used you need to give credit to who made them otherwise that's illegal. You also need to make clear that the images / materials were created while working at a particular firm if you weren't the sole creative force behind them.
Besides making everything legal it's just the right thing to do and speaks to your honesty and integrity.
It's not necessarily illegal, but it is extremely unethical and shows poor judgment on the part of the junior. I would take that as automatically disqualifying for employment.
Oh, it's illegal. It's jus that unless you can show finical loss it's just misdemeanor copyright violation and not worth going to civil court over.
Like I said, not necessarily. It might fall under fair use for professional documentation.
It could. It probably wouldn't fall under the fair use if you're using images you didn't create to show off your rendering skills or images of parts of projects that you didn't work on. All depends on the state and if you got anything for using them in such a manor. I know of an architect in MN that did something like this. Used images of a design process for a part of a project he didn't work on in a proposal while working at firm B. Said architect did work on the project while at another firm, firm A, just not that part. The firm A sued him and won. This was because firm B got the project.
Using it in a proposal to get work would be a copyright violation because it would be for commercial use. Putting it in your resume/portfolio probably would not. That's what I'm driving at here. Now, if the person is using the work to make a false claim about their work experience, that's unethical and maybe even fraudulent (depending on the circumstances), but it's not really a copyright violation.
Using another persons work to make a false claim about your work experience is still a copyright violation. It would need to be made by the person who did the work. Typically all that will happen is that the accused is forced to remove the copyrighted material and possibly pay legal / court fees. I should know. I had to sue someone to stop them from using images of my work in their online portfolio.
I would nicely tell them they are doing something unethical by representing work they did not produce as their own. And then kindly recommend they should remove the work and avoid doing this in the future as it is likely to seriously impact their professional connections in a very small field.
I agree that the offender is probably ignorant of what they are doing wrong and needs to be informed about the right way to do things. Most young people are clueless about the correct way to use images and credit projects they worked on as someone else's employee.
Realistically, I think someone like this should be smart enough to understand that it’s not ok, and probably just doesn’t expect to be called out on it. However, at this point it seems like the actual damage is basically zero and it’s mostly just an annoyance. So it seems better to start off from a compassionate angle for everyone’s sake.
If speaking nicely to him does not work , next time you run into him at water cooler , just grab a plastic cup and crush it in your hand in front of his face and drop it on the floor, then take another cup and drink water as usual and go back to your chair. If that doesn’t work , then next time you come to office , start putting his framed picture on your desk instead of your family or kids . I have found this technique worked for me in the past with folks that took credit for my work.