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I am building my personal portfolio.

I have very few works to showcase which I have freelanced.

But I have extensive amount of experience working in client projects during my job as a Frontend developer in previous organizations. My best works to be showcased are the ones I have built during that period.

So is it legal to display screenshots of those client projects in my personal portfolio?

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    possible duplicate of As a freelance programmer, how to include projects in portfolio without legal trouble?
    – Xavier J
    Commented Aug 13, 2014 at 15:35
  • Are you asking about work you completed while employed at a steady company who had clients, as opposed to work you completed on your own for your own clients without a boss? That would determine if this is a duplicate question or not.
    – Canadian Luke ♦
    Commented Aug 13, 2014 at 16:21
  • Yes @CanadianLuke you got it absolutely right. Is it legal to just display screen shots of works which I had worked under a steady company who had clients.
    – Katti
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 4:56
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    If the finished product is publicly available on the web, I highly doubt you'd have issues with a screen shot and short description of how you helped
    – Canadian Luke ♦
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 5:00
  • Yup, I agree with @CanadianLuke. I do this in my portfolio. If it's publicly available, I consider it free game. If it's an internal project, such as an intranet, I'd get permission first.
    – Paul Dessert
    Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 7:05

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Showing work you have completed as a freelancer is obviously preferable. Whether you can legally show the work you did for a previous employer will depend on your employment contract and/or whether you signed an NDA. Those things aside, you should be fine.

It's worth bearing in mind that the copyright for each site will be owned either by your previous employer or their client, who can therefore legitimately request you remove the site(s) from your portfolio.

To help avoid that happening there are a few other things you can check:

  • Is the work done by your previous employer covered by a clients' NDA? If so avoid listing it, since you are likely also bound by the NDA.
  • Is the work on your previous employers website? In this case you're probably fine showing the site and writing about your contributions.

I have personally listed work done for a previous employer without issue, though now I only do so in proposals for which I'm lacking other examples of work.

If you have any doubt about your contract, NDAs, or legal obligations, please consult a legal professional in your jurisdiction — I am not a lawyer.

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