Did design work for Non-Profit, want to use work in portfolio.

[Sharkyd98]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
Texas

I did some poster design work for my churches non-profit event. I was wanting to show the work that I did in my portfolio. I didn't sign a contract for anything, and there is nothing saying that I created the design. So my question is, what should I do to show that I created the design (for proof that I created the design, for when someone asks me about my portfolio), someone told me to get a letter from the marketing director for the event, but I have no clue what to put on it and what to do.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
Texas

I did some poster design work for my churches non-profit event. I was wanting to show the work that I did in my portfolio. I didn't sign a contract for anything, and there is nothing saying that I created the design. So my question is, what should I do to show that I created the design (for proof that I created the design, for when someone asks me about my portfolio), someone told me to get a letter from the marketing director for the event, but I have no clue what to put on it and what to do.

If you voluntarily provided the church with a poster design for their event, or the church hired you to create a poster design for their event, but you do not work for the church (so a work for hire does not apply) and you did not sign any written agreement assigning your copyrights in the design to the church (which would transfer rights), you retain all of the exclusive rights in your design and you can use the poster design in your portfolio.

The person who told you to get a letter from the marketing director had a good suggestion, if you want some sort of proof that the design was created by you. You can tell the director that you will be using the poster design as part of your portfolio and that a letter from him/her saying you created the design would be nice to have. It is probably not necessary - unless you are having problems with the church over the poster design for some reason.

Your work, as a note, is automatically copyrighted as soon as it is fixed in a tangible form. Registration with the Copyright Office is not necessary.