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skodtdesign
Community Member

Ghosting and Work Sample Collection

So far, my experience on this platform has been mediocre.  I have put a lot of energy into putting forth quality proposals, only to see very little return.  And in all honesty, the experience has left me with more questions than answers.

My biggest question has not to do with returning of connects, as I see being talked about routinely, meaning this is an ongoing problem for the platform.  But rather the protection of material.  Every proposal requires work samples to be submitted.  How do I know that my work samples are not being used in an unethical manner.  I understand that the platform has taken to removing identifying markers from uploaded work samples, so that has raised my suspicons further and left freelancer with little recourse to protect their work.

 

I do not wish to jump to any conclusions, but the shear amount of unanswered proposals really makes me wonder.  What happens when I find out that one of my submitted work samples is being used in a manner that I did not consent to or was not compensated for?  What recourse to I have as a freelancer, when the platform is being used as a thrift shop for digital media?

6 REPLIES 6
tlbp
Community Member

The reality is that any IP, when presented to another person becomes susceptible to theft. Every creator has always faced this dilemma. Digitization makes taking easier and creators who want to work in the digital realm have to decide how comfortable they are with that. Your recourse is the same as it would be if a non-Upwork prospect stole your work, you pursue legal action. 

 

Maybe you could present your work samples solely using your Upwork portfolio and refer prospective clients to that page.  

skodtdesign
Community Member

The platform has already set itself up in manner that demands that makers upload cutsheets for proposals, so the expectation is already there for potential clients to be handed these work samples.  The fact that the platform has recently taken to removing identifiers from digital media only encourages potential theft and diminishes possible legal recourse, by essentially removing the signature from the painting. 

What you are proposing is really only shifting the issue from one hand to the other, especially when the cutsheets I tend to use are from the same portfolio.  Either way, the media is potentially being stolen off the platform and based on the response it sounds like UpWork is not willing or prepared to prevent that.


wrote:

 The fact that the platform has recently taken to removing identifiers from digital media only encourages potential theft and diminishes possible legal recourse, by essentially removing the signature from the painting. 


Sorry, what?

 


Either way, the media is potentially being stolen off the platform and based on the response it sounds like UpWork is not willing or prepared to prevent that.

Realistically, Upwork isn't any more able to prevent it than any other place on the web.

 

Your website is a perfect example. Anyone can download anything from it with a mere couple of mouseclicks. 

 

What recourse to I have as a freelancer, when the platform is being used as a thrift shop for digital media?.


The same as you have anywhere else.

You are not wrong, but that is really not the point.

 

What I am getting at is the fact that I am spending a lot time drafting proposals and will never get answered.  It almost feels like this platform is an interactive "Pinterest" with the interaction being one sided.  potential clients seem to be roaming the aisles looking for free samples, but never really buying anything.  Since I am paying to be here, I am paying for the priveledge of offering those samples, only to be blown off. 

While Costco can afford selling $1.50 corndogs and offering free samples on every endcap, I cannot afford my time being wasted by window shoppers that have no intention of responding to the jobs that they putting forth, for what appears to be the purpose of collecting free work samples.

There seem to be landscape designers and architects earning money on the platform. That said, UW is not for everybody. We each have to figure out how to use it in a way that yields a worthwhile ROI or abandon it in favor of other biz dev tools.

 

That says it all. 

Thank you.

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