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

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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