They want the codebase or the project name,github and websites?
If they just want the codebase it's a simple OSS fork, why would they need your permission?
Ask HN: My company wants my side project. What can I do?
41–50 of 327 posts
Re: Ask HN: My company wants my side project. What can I do?
#42Every once in a while something like this comes up in HN and the top voted answer is always “find a lawyer”. My 2 cents - don’t. You want compensation, you want to direct the roadmap. Your employer wants ownership. Where is the conflict? Why make one? (P.S. - my legal experience “peaked” about a decade ago when I hired Andrew Valentine, managing partner of DLA Piper Palo Alto to help bridge what should have been an e…
Lawyers don't necessarily mean conflict, just very specific agreements.
Re: Ask HN: My company wants my side project. What can I do?
#43Find a lawyer, ASAP, that specializes in employment and / or IP. This is a legal issue and you need to solve it with people that know the law. Talking, signing, admitting things, etc, only hurt you. Depending on your country and state, as well as your employment agreement, there are a lot of impactful variables. Intuition and personal relationships are not going to help you solve this issue, especially, absent knowin…
But this is the obvious answer. OP didn't need you to tell him to get a lawyer. If he had that kind of money he'd be talking to a lawyer not us. I mean I know you meant well and I know I probably sound like a negative jerk but yeah of course it's a legal issue and he should talk to a lawyer. It's like if someone has a stomach ache and they asked online what it might be and someone tells them they should see a doctor. It's obvious and doesn't need to be said.
I think what OP needs are good resources so that he can educate himself as much as possible. Yeah he also needs a lawyer, if this is that important to him, but being informed will be a force multiplier here.
in my experience people are generally shity when you ask for legal advice online but you could try that. For example stack exchange has one but you'll probably get condemned on there instead of getting helpful advice.
An out-of-the-box idea might be to find a paralegal on FIVERR and ask them to dig up resources to read up on.
Again I apologize for being such a jerk about your suggestion. I'm a terrible person.
Re: Ask HN: My company wants my side project. What can I do?
#44>developed it on my own time but the product directly relates to what my employer does As much as I hate to say it, that doesn't sound like a side project. That just sounds like overtime.
Whose side are you on?
Re: Ask HN: My company wants my side project. What can I do?
#45Find a lawyer, ASAP, that specializes in employment and / or IP. This is a legal issue and you need to solve it with people that know the law. Talking, signing, admitting things, etc, only hurt you. Depending on your country and state, as well as your employment agreement, there are a lot of impactful variables. Intuition and personal relationships are not going to help you solve this issue, especially, absent knowin…
But this is the obvious answer. OP didn't need you to tell him to get a lawyer. If he had that kind of money he'd be talking to a lawyer not us. I mean I know you meant well and I know I probably sound like a negative jerk but yeah of course it's a legal issue and he should talk to a lawyer. It's like if someone has a stomach ache and they asked online what it might be and someone tells them they should see a doctor.…
I disagree. Learning the ins and outs of the law and of IP negotiations - a very specialized and cut-throat field - in a few days or maybe weeks is out of the question.
If he can't talk to a lawyer, he's going to lose. Period. Maybe very badly. After having already screwed up, now is not the time to half-ass it.
You're not a terrible person but you've given absolutely terrible advice.
Re: Ask HN: My company wants my side project. What can I do?
#46What kind of outcome do you want? Most of the responses here concentrate on trying to get some kind of financial return for your work. That's important, but for you it might not be the most important thing (you were giving it away and working on it in your spare time, right?) Consider asking to make it your full time job, or something like that. You clearly know the field well, and you've managed to build community.…
> What kind of outcome do you want?
I wish I knew myself better.
Maintenance and taking the product forward will naturally become part of my job, so that's a given (and I'm happy about it).
What can I ask more for is what I'm trying to figure out and having a hard time.
I'm generally creative with software and products but I'm really bad when it comes to negotiations and figuring out a good barter.
I absolutely don't want to take the legal route and want to work something out mutually.
Re: Ask HN: My company wants my side project. What can I do?
#47[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: My company wants my side project. What can I do?
#48Every once in a while something like this comes up in HN and the top voted answer is always “find a lawyer”. My 2 cents - don’t. You want compensation, you want to direct the roadmap. Your employer wants ownership. Where is the conflict? Why make one? (P.S. - my legal experience “peaked” about a decade ago when I hired Andrew Valentine, managing partner of DLA Piper Palo Alto to help bridge what should have been an e…
Lawyers don't necessarily mean conflict, just very specific agreements.
... just very specific norms
FTFY
Re: Ask HN: My company wants my side project. What can I do?
#49Find a lawyer, ASAP, that specializes in employment and / or IP. This is a legal issue and you need to solve it with people that know the law. Talking, signing, admitting things, etc, only hurt you. Depending on your country and state, as well as your employment agreement, there are a lot of impactful variables. Intuition and personal relationships are not going to help you solve this issue, especially, absent knowin…
Thank you for the comment!
I totally get what you and other threads are trying to say and I don't disagree with what you are saying.
I probably should have cleared this out in my original post (my bad) that I do not wish to pursue the legal route. I personally feel that in my case, it will just drain everyone's energy for not much gain at the end. Also, personal relationships matter to me as well.
I'm trying to find ways to get compensated for the time and effort I've put into it. If not financially, then in some other forms. But I don't have any ideas.
Re: Ask HN: My company wants my side project. What can I do?
#50Find a lawyer, ASAP, that specializes in employment and / or IP. This is a legal issue and you need to solve it with people that know the law. Talking, signing, admitting things, etc, only hurt you. Depending on your country and state, as well as your employment agreement, there are a lot of impactful variables. Intuition and personal relationships are not going to help you solve this issue, especially, absent knowin…
But this is the obvious answer. OP didn't need you to tell him to get a lawyer. If he had that kind of money he'd be talking to a lawyer not us. I mean I know you meant well and I know I probably sound like a negative jerk but yeah of course it's a legal issue and he should talk to a lawyer. It's like if someone has a stomach ache and they asked online what it might be and someone tells them they should see a doctor.…
> If he had that kind of money he'd be talking to a lawyer not us.
He, and you, may not know that you do not always need money up front to engage the services of a lawyer. Many lawyers extend credit to their clients or allow clients to condition their fee on a successful outcome (a contingent fee). Depending on the desired outcome in this case, such an arrangement may be easy. For example, if OP wants to arrange a sale of the IP to his employer, then the lawyer’s fee could be paid from the proceeds. Some lawyers also take credit cards.
Also, an initial consultation to decide if OP wants to hire a lawyer shouldn’t cost anything. OP won’t get any free advice, but he should get an idea of how a lawyer could help in his situation.