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

[nina jones <ddi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I think copyright law needs to be changed to place a higher value on
> creativity.  I think there should be no distinction between employee and
> independent contractor when it comes to copyrights.  In the absence of an
> agreement to the contrary, the copyright should go to the literal author -
> whoever that may be.  This change alone, would release a flood of creativity
> unparalleled in recent history.  If someone pays for a work to be created,
> they should have rights that are essentially equivalent to those of the
> literal author.

there are all sorts of practical problems with this logic.  

the one that jumped first to mind was fragmentation.  if you have a shop
of 50 programmers, where do you draw the line as to who owns what. 
especially if you have projects done by teams.

another one is egos and inflated worth.  there'd be no end to arguements
on how much each piece of the project is worth. what if joe programmer
decided his routine was worth $1,000,000? 

or what about an employee that quits and refuses to let the employeer
use the code he wrote while he was an employee?

or work assignments - would you have reluctance for employees to do the
grunge work on items that are not as creative, therefore no potential
for big bucks?  

i've been an employee and an employeer.  our work is done on a contract
basis, with employees.  

and you won't understand the other side until you have an employee quit
and then try to compete against you using software you paid him to
write.

sometimes 'fair' is an elusive quality.  and often, two people can never
agree on what is fair.  the bottom line is, you give up ownership for
the benefit of a salary, insurance, paid vacation, etc.  and if you want
ownership, you give up the perks of employement. 

nj
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