Re: New idea for outsourcing programming

["James W. Kilgore" <qappdsn@xxxxxxx>]

Bob Crothers wrote:

> Greg,
>
> When a contractor/consultant is involved, this is my
> understanding also.  Without anything in writing, the copyright
> belongs to the contractor/consultant who wrote it.
>
> However, for an employee, without a prior agreement, the code
> belongs to the employer/company.  Not the programer.
>
> Most companies won't care to much about little utilities.
>  UNLESS, a competitor is involved.  Then the rules change.
>  However, I would check with the "boss" to clarify their
> position if you are an employee.
>

Prudent advice.

Even if an employee does the work on their own time, yet uses an employer
resource, the employer may claim entitlement to a cut of the action.

I've striven to write a few "black boxes", on my own time, with my own 
resources,
and am willing to submit them as "shareware" or limited time "trials" with a
nominal registration fee to maintain a mailing list to provide release level
upgrades.  After all, if my name is going to be on it, I want to make support
services and feed back available.

Way back when I had the opportunity to view code I had written 10 years prior 
and
my first response was: "I wouldn't hire someone who wrote this!".  IMHO, it's
better to keep everyone who uses your code up to date then to have someone judge
you on a prior effort.

P.S. My patent attorney said to me: "We'll check out prior applications, and 
even
if we find one, but it's not on the market, do what you want.  Oh, by the way,
keep 10% in the bank in case of claims."

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