|
> > Steve Landess wrote: > >3) Many if not most companies would *not* give you permission to take > >copies of code that you wrote. > Then Tom wrote: > midrange-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote: > > Last time I seriously checked, admittedly some ten years ago, _most_ > companies didn't have the right to stop you. My current position is with > a software firm and therefore what I write here for the products is > definitely owned and controlled by the company. > > But that has not been true for any other company or organization I've > worked for in the past 25+ years, that includes Packard Bell-NEC. > Because what I wrote at PB-NEC was standard business function rather > than marketable product, both sides had non-exclusive rights. > > I'm certainly interested in what current law might say. Tom, In the absence of a written contract specifying otherwise, you're right. I believe the U.S. Uniform Commercial Code does give both sides non-exclusive rights. My response was based on the fact that: 1) More often than not, as a full-time employee, a condition of employment was that I was required to sign an agreement that essentially gave all rights of ownership in any software I created to my employer. Of course, they can't take away what's in your head...it's simple enough to recreate a program for a new employer from scratch using the ideas that gave birth to the original, unless you also signed a non-compete agreement that precluded such. 2) Likewise, while working as a consultant for the last 16 years, many times I have signed agreements that gave all ownership rights to the client - several of them being Fortune 200 companies. It didn't matter to me - I was getting paid by the hour, not for the intellectual property I was creating. Steve
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
This mailing list archive is Copyright 1997-2024 by midrange.com and David Gibbs as a compilation work. Use of the archive is restricted to research of a business or technical nature. Any other uses are prohibited. Full details are available on our policy page. If you have questions about this, please contact [javascript protected email address].
Operating expenses for this site are earned using the Amazon Associate program and Google Adsense.