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

["Nathan M. Andelin" <nathanma@xxxxxxxxx>]

Copyrights in this country are a product of the US Constitution and Title 17
of the US code.  The fact that they are not born by contract is a
fascinating and refreshing legal concept.  This means that new copyrights
come into existence every moment of every day all across the country
whenever some creative person expresses himself in a fixed form.
Afterwards, the rights may be transferred or shared by contract or license
or
by placing the work in the public domain.

But the huge disparity between what the law provides employees vs.
independent contractors is a puzzle to me.  The law provides independent
contractors with all rights, even though they may be paid for their work.
On the other hand, employees who create works within the scope of their
employment have no rights to their creations.

One of the ironies of this is that, in practice, there are many similarities
between employees and independent contractors.  Employees are probably just
as educated and skilled.  An independent contractor and an employee may be
working along side each other, using the same tools, etc.  and you might not
be able to tell the difference?

Why the huge disparity in the law?



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