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Startup crisis. Dorm room style.

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41–50 of 88 posts

Re: Startup crisis. Dorm room style.

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely wrong. In the absence of a contract that explicitly states otherwise, the IP rights belong to the programmer, not the partner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_for_hire

It's not at all clear that this is a work for hire, in the absence of a contract-- he's not an employee, and the relationship is vague. I recommended paying back the money paid so far, so as to defuse any potential "work for hire" claims.

Re: Startup crisis. Dorm room style.

#42
post #13

Don't work with this guy. He's trying to take advantage of you. If his dad is a lawyer, you are going to be in a trouble if you actually get into some kind of a disagreement with the guy. He can say that you did in fact have a verbal agreement and that he showed you the papers and you agreed. $400 is very, cery little money if there is a possibility of legal fight involved and by giving you the contract he has laread…

Yes. Do not work with this guy. Just stop, now. It's just not worth it. There are other ideas in the world. There are other art students. There are certainly better paying, more deserving consulting gigs. Just bail now, before you kick yourself later for not bailing sooner. If you need a list of creative excuses I'll offer a few: -- One of your pet goldfish died and you can't work while you're in mourning. -- You've…

"-- You need money to finance your expensive drug habit, so you got another gig that pays $150 per hour. Unfortunately, it takes up most of your time."

I like the way you think.

Re: Startup crisis. Dorm room style.

#43
OK, let me see if I got this right...

Your roommate is paying you to do his homework

and

In order to "earn" that money, you're providing him with work that was already done before.

Am I the only one who thinks there is something fundamentally wrong here?

This thing was f*cked up before it started and needs to be terminated. Now.

If your roommate is in college to learn something, leave him alone and let him learn.

If you want to start a business, either drop out of college and start it or do it outside of class.

If you are as "awesome" as you claim, then find one of the 12,309,384 other ideas out there and run with it.

Nothing good will be harvested from bad seeds planted.

Oh, and while you're at it, read this:

http://paulgraham.com/good.html

Re: Startup crisis. Dorm room style.

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_for_hire

It's not at all clear that this is a work for hire, in the absence of a contract-- he's not an employee, and the relationship is vague. I recommended paying back the money paid so far, so as to defuse any potential "work for hire" claims.

This is perfectly clear from a legal perspective: the programmer guy (the OP) owns all the IP that he created. Don't pay the money back, just keep going.

Re: Startup crisis. Dorm room style.

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_for_hire

It's not at all clear that this is a work for hire, in the absence of a contract-- he's not an employee, and the relationship is vague. I recommended paying back the money paid so far, so as to defuse any potential "work for hire" claims.

You cannot legally undo an agreement just by returning the profits you received under it.

Re: Startup crisis. Dorm room style.

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not at all clear that this is a work for hire, in the absence of a contract-- he's not an employee, and the relationship is vague. I recommended paying back the money paid so far, so as to defuse any potential "work for hire" claims.

This is perfectly clear from a legal perspective: the programmer guy (the OP) owns all the IP that he created. Don't pay the money back, just keep going.

It looks like "a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work" to me. But, again, I agree that he should keep whatever money he has earned.

Re: Startup crisis. Dorm room style.

#47
post #43

OK, let me see if I got this right... Your roommate is paying you to do his homework and In order to "earn" that money, you're providing him with work that was already done before. Am I the only one who thinks there is something fundamentally wrong here? This thing was f*cked up before it started and needs to be terminated. Now. If your roommate is in college to learn something, leave him alone and let him learn. If…

I sort of agree with your sentiment but... I could be wrong, but this is for a film school (or at least film course) and this sort of thing happens all the time in film school. Cuz everyone in the film industry expects to get paid (except for the interns) and you might need a pro to help you out on a project.

Re: Startup crisis. Dorm room style.

#49
post #10

You agreed to work on this as a contractor, for pay. You aren't being taken advantage of if you agreed to a price ahead of time (cap or no cap). Just because they have a good idea doesn't mean you have to be involved, there will be other great ideas that come your way as well. And hell, if this is successful, believe me: you don't want to be in business with the kind of guy who a) goes to his father for help on such…

Totally agree. You need to be true to your word.

If the project has any future beyond the prototype, your friend would be crazy not to ask you to stay involved. The time to discuss compensation and risk is then. If you want something to happen, do a good job with the project and make your partners excited by the prospect of doing more.

Re: Startup crisis. Dorm room style.

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is perfectly clear from a legal perspective: the programmer guy (the OP) owns all the IP that he created. Don't pay the money back, just keep going.

It looks like "a work specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work" to me. But, again, I agree that he should keep whatever money he has earned.

Software actually does not fall into that category. What that category means is "magazine article." If you go further down in the page, you'll also note that one of the other stipulations is that there is an explicit written contract stating that is a work for hire.

this page probably explains the situation better than my random comments:

http://www.developerdotstar.com/mag/articles/daniels_softwar...

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