RE: Ownership of work?

david,

There will be a strict legal argument, of course.  IANAL...

I'm afraid it could go either way...  Some employers take the view that,
especially if you are on salary, you're paid for your knowledge, insights,
and any ideas you come up with.  No matter what time of day you come up with
them.

Other employers don't view it this way.


As a practical matter, I think it also has to do with what pay scale you're
in...  If you're lucky enough to make it to the big time, and make the
mega-bucks.. then I'd assume it is more reasonable for the employer to get
ALL your best ideas.

If you're paid hourly, and/or it's just a fair-to-middlin' wage, then I
would think you'd have the freedom to pursue other things on your own hours.


Legally speaking, I'm not sure there's even a distinction between whether
your off-hours work is directly related to your employer's business.  If the
contract says the employer owns all your ideas, then that means all of them.

I'm guessing the legality is determined by the EXACT language of the
contract, and I wouldn't know.  But the practical aspects probably play as
big a role as the legal...  Does this particular friend want this particular
job?  Do the employers want them bad enough to make exceptions?

First programming job I went into, the employer said I could use their
equipment, on my own time, and that was a perk they wanted to provide.  (I
don't recall asking for it, even.)  I've always felt it's best to get these
kinds of things out in the open ahead of time, and mutually agreed on..
rather than deal with it AFTER you may have already crossed the line.

JMHO.  IANAL.

jt

| -----Original Message-----
| From: midrange-nontech-admin@midrange.com
| [mailto:midrange-nontech-admin@midrange.com]On Behalf Of David Gibbs
| Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 10:00 PM
| To: midrange-jobs@midrange.com; midrange-nontech@midrange.com
| Subject: Ownership of work?
|
|
| Folks:
|
| Who owns the work?
|
| Obviously, if programming is done on an employers time, using employers
| resources (hardware, office space, software, etc), they own the code.
|
| However ... what if a programmer does work on his own time, using his own
| resources (say, an account on Netshare400) ... but it's code ... does the
| employer have any claim on the resultant code?
|
| A friend of mine is encountering this type of situation ... he was
| presented with a new employment contract that states "Any software
| developed while employed by xyz corp is the sole property of xyz corp" (or
| something to that effect).
|
| Ideas?
|
| david
| --
| | Internet: david@midrange.com
| | WWW: http://david.fallingrock.net
| |
| | Justice ... not vengeance
|
| _______________________________________________
| This is the Non-Technical Discussion about the AS400 / iSeries
| (Midrange-NonTech) mailing list
| To post a message email: Midrange-NonTech@midrange.com
| To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
| visit: http://lists.midrange.com/cgi-bin/listinfo/midrange-nontech
| or email: Midrange-NonTech-request@midrange.com
| Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
| at http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-nontech.
|