Ask HN: My company wants my side project. What can I do?

Post by adreamingsoul » Sat, Dec 14, 2019, 7:25 AM UTC

runninganyways wrote: post #57

bdowling wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 sa…

My point is you don't need to say obvious things. It's a waste of everyone's time.

Post by edejong » Sat, Dec 14, 2019, 7:40 AM UTC

yolo42 wrote: post #46

nl wrote: post #32

What 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…

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Dec 14, 2019, 7:58 AM UTC

JohnFen wrote: post #12

mcv wrote: post #6

Whether or not your employer can claim ownership in court depends entirely on your contract. But no matter what's in your contact, that route is probably not your best option. From what I understand, you created, in your own time, a project that is valuable to your employer, and that they want to use and develop. You're the expert on this project. Not just that, you designed every aspect of it, popularised it, and yo…

> Whether or not your employer can claim ownership in court depends entirely on your contract. Entirely this. I got burned by this years ago, developing side project that was completely unrelated to the sort of work my employer did, and was not developed using any company resources. But my employment contract specified that my employer had first rights to anything I developed at all during the term of my employment.…

Post by inimino » Sat, Dec 14, 2019, 8:04 AM UTC

yolo42 wrote: post #49

relaunched wrote: post #23

Find 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…

Post by chrismcb » Sat, Dec 14, 2019, 8:07 AM UTC

runninganyways wrote: post #43

relaunched wrote: post #23

Find 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.…