RE: What are a programmer's rights to what he writes?

Lets be realistic here. None of us needs or wants lawyer bills.  If 
there's a question about an action why not discuss it with the other 
party?    If a programmer wants to develop a small tool set for himself on 
his lunch hour, that's probably fine, but why cause trouble?  Why not lay 
it out in the open and let the boss know, so there's no smoldering embers 
laying there. 

On the other hand if one is going to develop a personal library during the 
lunch hour, then there is a need to be sure the lunch hour doesn't last 
till mid-afternoon.

Too often I see people trying to sneak stuff.  There's no need for that. 

_______________________
Booth Martin
booth@martinvt.com
http://www.MartinVT.com
_______________________




Eric Kempter <noerick.norcal@cleancity.com>
Sent by: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com
05/23/2000 03:13 PM
Please respond to MIDRANGE-L

 
        To:     "'MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com'" <MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com>
        cc: 
        Subject:        RE: What are a programmer's rights to what he writes?

To play devil's advocate for a moment.  Assuming the Brad is a salaried 
employee, doesn't his employer own any and all code that he writes 
regardless of when or where he does it?

Eric Kempter

On Tuesday, May 23, 2000 8:24 AM, Stone, Brad V (TC) 
[SMTP:bvstone@taylorcorp.com] wrote:
| If you write it and are payed by the company, it's theirs.  but, that
| doesn't stop you from saving a library when you leave, or even easier,
| FTPing it to a PC.  :)
|
| That's why I try to do a lot of my programming at Netshare400.com.  That 

way
| it's mine no matter what.  All of my shareware is written on this 
machine.
| I do give it to my employer for free, but I'm thinking about chaning my 
mind
| on that one.  ;)
|
| Brad
|
| > -----Original Message-----
| > From: Nathan M. Andelin [mailto:nathanma@haaga.com]
| > Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2000 8:49 AM
| > To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
| > Subject: What are a programmer's rights to what he writes?
| >
| >
| > Is it illegal for a programmer to use source code he was
| > employed to write?
| > Is it unethical?  For example, should a programmer be able
| > show some of his
| > past source code to a prospective future employer?
| >
| > One of the people on this list express his opinion last week
| > that it was
| > both illegal and unethical.
| >
| > My question is what rights do programmers have to their
| > works?  And, in your
| > opinion, what rights should a programmer have?
| >
| > Actually, I was forced to defend myself not long ago in
| > Federal court in a
| > copyright case.  So, I gained some strong feelings about this
| > issue - as
| > well as a clearer understanding of the law.
| >
| > I feel this question is appropriate for the people on this
| > list because it
| > affects so many of us.  In asking, however, I have two fears.
| >  The first is
| > apathy - most of you have probably never needed to assert
| > yourselves on this
| > issue.  Second, some of you may feel uncomfortable sharing
| > your opinion in a
| > public forum.  For example, an employer who is highly
| > dependent on a skilled
| > programmer may not want to risk offending his employee by
| > asserting that the
| > employee should have no rights to his work.  On the other
| > hand, an employee
| > may not want to offend an employer, or may feel uncomfortable
| > saying he
| > ought to have rights even though the law does not support that view.
| >
| > If this is the case, I would still appreciate a private and
| > confidential
| > e-mail message to me.   nathanma@haaga.com
| >
| > Thanks.
| >


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