RE: Ethics of posting samples?

["Combs, Richard" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com>]

Nancy Allison wrote: 
 
> Hi, folks. I'm considering creating a web page with links to 
> pdfs of various docs I've written. Then, I can simply point 
> potential clients to the page and they can look at whatever 
> type of sample they want.
>  
> What do you think of the issue of posting unedited excerpts? 
> Product names, etc., would pop up here and there.
>  
> I'm guessing I need to edit out product names and other 
> identifying terms.
> What would you do?

If the docs are "work for hire" that you created for clients/employers,
you need to get the permission of the owners to use them as samples.
Offering to obscure/change identifying information might make them more
agreeable; it depends on how proprietary the content is and how
paranoid/inflexible the company is.

The docs aren't your property, so you don't get to decide how they're
used. The owners do. 

Note: I'm not a lawyer; I couldn't take all that slithering. ;-)

Richard


------
Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
------




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