
Ask HN: New employer asking me to sign a strange agreement - mavsman
Have you ever been asked to sign a strange agreement that you did not consent to by an employer? I know non-competes are pretty far reaching in an unrealistic way but are pretty much a standard so we kind of give them a pass with the hopes that they won&#x27;t be enforced.<p>That said, I was recently asked to sign an agreement that said my company would be able to use my photo, biographical info, or my likeness in any way to promote their products without my consent. Has anyone seen something like this? Were you able to push back against it?
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davismwfl
This isn't strange or abnormal in normal business, it is just newer for tech
staff. I have seen this a lot in marketing and executive employment
agreements. It is basically so companies don't get sued for showing pictures
of you on their website or in their marketing info etc. Generally it is for
two things, 1 to be able to use your image, and 2 to say you have already been
compensated for any use of your likeness.

Honestly, I think you should be glad this company is being up front about it
and not doing what most startups do which is use all that without ever asking
your permission or telling you what they might use.

If later something changes for you personally, you can send a cease and desist
letter to prevent them from using your likeness in the future. IANAL but you
do have rights to control the usage of your likeness and bio for future use,
you couldn't stop prior usages or force them to recall marketing brochures,
but you could prevent them from using your likeness on future material
(digital or print) if you sent the C&D.

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AnimalMuppet
IANAL.

I _think_ that kind of thing is just like "we can post photos of the company
picnic on our public-facing website to show what a great place this is to
work, without getting sued by someone who is in the picture". It's probably in
some best-practices guide that they're following.

For me, it's something I might find vaguely annoying, but something I wouldn't
worry about. It's not like someone is going to choose _my_ face for a national
advertising campaign.

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mavsman
Ya, I am guessing this is something they likely won't pursue to its fullest
extent but indeed something annoying. Say for instance, the company is
eventually taken over by a bad actor that now wants to put my face on some
endorsement for a shady product. Then I won't be too happy about that.

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hos234
> Were you able to push back against it?

Not really. I tried once and got walked out of the building after sitting
through an endless bunch of meetings where different rungs of the hierarchy
making the "...but everyone does it" argument.

A better approach, I found latter in life is to be buddies with the right
people. They want to stick your info all over, go talk to your Marketing/HR/PR
buddy.

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mavsman
I was thinking this would be a good approach too, both within the company and
outside of it.

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mytailorisrich
Well, clearly they are asking for your consent...

You haven't said what role this relates to. If you'll be attending conferences
or somehow end up on company material then this agreement seems normal.

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mavsman
Software engineer at an e-commerce company. Conference attendance is likely at
some point but not even close to my primary role.

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tdeck
Is your new job in California? I think CA has extra laws about using someone's
likeness so my employment agreements here have all had language like that. The
first time I saw it I thought it was odd too and drew a line through it.

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muzani
This is not unusual, only an unusual way of asking.

The usual way is just to drop you a message on Slack asking if they can use
your photo on their pitch deck or website, or attach your resume on a
government tender.

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itronitron
_in any way to promote their products_

that sounds kind of sketchy unless you happen to be a supermodel, I would hope
that they have customers or investors that are better suited to help promote
their products

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mtmail
A friend had to sign this, background is they want to show all employees on
the about-us page on the website. I think you can push back and limit the use,
e.g. to the website.

