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Developers’ side projects
191–200 of 411 posts
Re: Developers’ side projects
#192I haven't heard about many disputed cases. I'd hope that if Google went around suing for possession of unrelated side projects, we'd hear about it. Maybe the possibility of being publicly shamed is a deterrent from pursing ownership.
A company I worked for (property appraisal company) got acquired by another company. They forced one of the higher up developers out. 6 months later that developer wrote an app dealing with lines at Disney and was making money on ad revenue. The company came after him claiming they owned it because he used skills and knowledge he gained while employed to write that app. We had a "everything you do at any time belongs…
So that company owns any work he does for any future employer? That sounds absurdly unenforceable.
Re: Developers’ side projects
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
He was at the original company for 15 years at the time and was the 2nd developer at the company. So he had a lot of friends at the company and he told his friends at the company that he made this cool app and word got around because everyone thought it was harmless to repeat.
Can you name the company? This kind of thing deserves bad press.
They got acquired by another company and then gutted, most of the management that did that got thrown out after anyway so I don't know how much it matters.
That being said I always read my employment contracts now.
Re: Developers’ side projects
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
But, not everyone works in the US, or California, or for a company in CA?
Yup, but if you don't you need to understand how bad your state is fucking you by seeing how good we have it in California.
On the other hand, in Texas my quite nice house cost less than $300,000, my state government is totally solvent, and very little is on fire or running out of water.
Your standard contracts may be better, but California certainly has its share of drawbacks.
And did you know there's a Fry's and an In-N-Out burger within ten miles of my house?
Re: Developers’ side projects
#195It's just so wrong on so many levels to deny anyone their shot at independence.
Companies taking advantage of ambiguities in the law or making employees live in fear of innovating on their own terms is wage slavery in its illest form.
Re: Developers’ side projects
#196I find this mindset totally disgusting, but I'm glad it's been summed up in such a concise way. > Being an employee of a high tech company whose product is intellectual means that you have decided that you want to sell your intellectual output, and maybe that’s OK, and maybe it’s not, but it’s a free choice. Let's clarify that phrase, "sell your intellectual output". Keep in mind that earlier in the article we discov…
my twitching due to self-restraint from posting marxist critiques of capitalism is ramping up again.
Re: Developers’ side projects
#197There's a loophole in most of these draconian contracts: they might own the copyright of what you do in your spare time, but they don't get to decide the license you use for your software (at least I've never seen any clause about this, ever). Then the solution is to use a liberal opensource license (MIT), and publish it somewhere. If you decide to reuse that code in the future for your own venture, you can just use it, the license allows you to do so even if the copyright is owned by your previous employer.
Re: Developers’ side projects
#198There's a loophole in most of these draconian contracts: they might own the copyright of what you do in your spare time, but they don't get to decide the license you use for your software (at least I've never seen any clause about this, ever). Then the solution is to use a liberal opensource license (MIT), and publish it somewhere. If you decide to reuse that code in the future for your own venture, you can just use…
That's not right. The owner of the copyright is the only entity that can decide the license of the code.
Re: Developers’ side projects
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder what legal recourse you have, if you don't get that contract until after your starting date (and have already left a previous job)? Even if you ask for all contract information ahead of time before accepting the job offer, and they conveniently leave that one out until after starting?
Depends on the state, but many assume you are competent to negotiate these issues before accepting employment.
Right, but what I'm talking about is a case where they fail to give that form to you until after your start date (and of course, after you've left your previous job). So they have the advantage -- either you sign the form, or you get fired on your first day of work. Too bad that most states won't consider this "signing under duress".
Re: Developers’ side projects
#200At my last job working for a small software company, I was able to get my boss to modify the employment contract such that a specific list of other projects (attached as an appendix to the contract) was excluded from the work product & IP ownership clauses. The idea was that if I wanted to work on a side project, I would clear it with him first, and then we would sign a quick amending agreement to the original contract which added the new side project to the list.
Major caveats: I haven't ever tested this method in an actual legal dispute. Also, the negotiation involved a shouting match in a crowded bar. YMMV.