Portfolio- Left Company - Who has rights?

[jadesigns]

Bear with me..

Ok so about 6 months ago a guy started an inc. company. I was a 15% stockholder in that parent company. Then we spawned other smaller companies one of them being a web design company.

Now i do have a stock certificate proving i had the 15% in the parent company however there is really no proof that i did work for the web design child company. I never filled out W2's or any privacy contract type of papers. None actually. I was their main web designer, developer. Just about all the sites on the portfolio I have designed and developed myself custom for those clients. They were writing me off as training - paid less than $600 they can do this. So technically I was only an stockholder of the parent company and got paid on parent company checks nothing with official child company stamp on it.

I quit there last week because of non-payment from the owners, some shady things going on, didnt agree with procedures set in place, etc.

I want to start my own company however I would like to display all the sites that I have been doing on my new site. Who has rights to those designs? In a court would I have been considered to be an official employee and therefore whatever I do belongs to that company and I cant use it? Is that kind of rule or law affected by me being a stockholder in the parent company and therefore still having part ownership? If i changed my original designs I did and recoded the sites could I display those?

The owners even owe me for a site that is currently almost finished and I was the only person who even touched the site at all - Now they may not pay me and this site and design is not even on the web yet - Is it theirs or mine?

Also one more question - they have also blocked me out from ftp, seeing any documents including the company documents which I thought I had rights to view as a stockholder, and I have no access to any of the sites in question.

Sorry this is so long but someone who really knows the answer and not guessing please help me here!

Thanks

[lammert]

First of all Welcome to WebmasterWorld!

stock certificate proving i had the 15% in the parent company

Basic mathematics tells me that 85% of the company was onwed by others so it may be difficult to claim that the portfolio belongs to you.

But then, I am just one of the members of this forum, not a lawyer or someone with good knowledge of the laws in your country/state, the small lines in contracts you signed etc. For this you need a local lawyer, he is the only one who can help you out.

[jadesigns]

Thanks for the welcome! Yeah it was split up 55% 15% 15% 15% - I figured I would have to call one - its just i havent ever discussed anything with a lawyer before and just dont know if they'll be able to give me a free consultation since the matter is a little cloudy. These people are running this company with the illusion they are doing things correctly. They even told me once they were going to send a cease and desist to someone for something they knew was legally ok - they just figured the person would see it and stop doing it - I know they would do that to me also- I just wanted to know before I put up my portfolio - who was in the right..

[lammert]

Having seen such situations more than once, it is amazing how much energy a recent bad working history can absorb. I would advice you to not put too much negative energy in the issue yourself. You already made the decision to quit last week and your primary focus should be your new future in web design. The energy to solve problems from your previous business relationship should be provided by an external source who knows what to do (a lawyer), so you can concentrate at what you are good at.

Reading what you wrote about the practices of your former business partners I would not yet mention the portfolio with them in the open, and let a lawyer sort it out. You could probably mention the sites in personal discussions with prospects though.

[bwnbwn]

Nothing is wrong with saying you were a major contributor to the design of x sites. you can't take full credit but you can say you were involved in all aspects of the design and code. Seeing how the code is not trademarked as you said you coded them you are fine.

The only ones that can ask you remove there links are the domain owners not the company and the domain owners own the website you designed.

be sure and add no follow tags to the link to the sites you show.

[dbdev]

my portfolio consists of sites I completed on my own and sites completed under contract of another company...

For the projects I developed under contract i have this blurb right on the page... "The [client named website] website was developed by Michael Crawford while under contract with [named general contractor].

Named_General_Contractor also has these sites listed on their portfolio...

... but I'm (my site) the one that shows up in SERPS... love it!

[jadesigns]

thanks for your help guys. So as long as I dont take full credit and just say i designed and was involved in the coding the only people who could tell me to take it down are the clients not my former owner - thats great. Why should I add no follow tags? If i do show them, do i have to say I did them as a member of my former company or do i just say I contributed to that design and development and they are not a current client of mine?

Thanks!

[bwnbwn]

That is correct be sure and add the past employer as well in the text

no follows keep your site from bleeding and how knows some of your designs may turn to the dark side not having a no follow will then cause your site mucho harm