Does society accept this behaviour outside tech? Imagine that a Michelin restaurant would claim copyright on the dishes cooked by the chef in his spare time. Or that the big farm would ask for a piece of those carrots grown in the back yard.
Google claims copyright on employee side projects
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Re: Google claims copyright on employee side projects
#12This isn't surprising, though it does suck that employees have to jump through these hoops to avoid having our work claimed by employers.
The way to go is to never use company resources or company time when working on personal things and also never work on something that they'd want.
Sometimes it's convenient to break the first 2 rules so it's annoying to make sure to never use my work laptop/internet/office when working on personal stuff, but it's doable. The last bit is certainly quite tricky when you're at Google but I'm at Canva (design+marketing softwares) so all of my stuff is fine.
For stuff you'd like to monetise we send an email to our 'bosses' about it and they give an upfront a-OK.
Re: Google claims copyright on employee side projects
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
I signed a contract, I didn't sign CA labor code which doesn't even apply within the same continent and which the contract does not reference in any way. I'm pretty sure they can't claim they get to enforce what they intended to write just because I happened to guess what that was by Googling parts of my contract. What I signed is what I signed, and the wording was clear in the contract.
If someone asks you to bring wine or beer to a party, do you usually bring both? Because that would still be valid in an OR statement but basing your ordinary life decisions on boolean logic doesn't always work out like you expect it. If a contract is written as: You own things you make on your own time unless you're using company equipment provided: * The thing does not relate to company business * The thing does no…
> You own things you make on your own time unless you're using company equipment provided: * The thing does not relate to company business * The thing does not result from work you do for the company
While "on your own time" and "using company equipment" are reasonably clear concepts, the other two clauses are too debatable to be an acceptable risk. It's not a matter of Boolean logic.
Re: Google claims copyright on employee side projects
#14Does society accept this behaviour outside tech? Imagine that a Michelin restaurant would claim copyright on the dishes cooked by the chef in his spare time. Or that the big farm would ask for a piece of those carrots grown in the back yard.
Lots of people are employed with an understanding that they won't compete with the employer.
Google's stance is on the aggressive end of things, but that's where the California law is coming from.
Re: Google claims copyright on employee side projects
#15Were those side projects done during work hours or using Google's equipment?
It's crazy that the "using X company equipment" legal basis works at all in those disputes.
Most of the time, "equipment" seems to mean "laptop". IHMO when "equipment" is such a commodity as a laptop, this should never even be an issue.
That's like a newspaper that would claims the work of one of it's journalist who is writing books on his personal time on the basis that the book was written with a pencil he brought home from work.
Re: Google claims copyright on employee side projects
#16Does society accept this behaviour outside tech? Imagine that a Michelin restaurant would claim copyright on the dishes cooked by the chef in his spare time. Or that the big farm would ask for a piece of those carrots grown in the back yard.
There are a lot of things different in the "real" world and the "software" world.
Nobody would accept underwear with a build in camera, gps tracker and a microphone wo give the data to x companys. But with a cellphone (almost) everybody is ok. Also if something goes wrong with software, it's the customers problem. The customer accepted the contract with no rights for him (software AS IS, no warranty), nobody would accept a such contract in the "real" world.
Re: Google claims copyright on employee side projects
#17Were those side projects done during work hours or using Google's equipment?
Some of the side projects he worked on prior to joining Google. >Like many Googlers, I had projects I worked on in my spare time. Some of those I carried over from before joining. >When I joined, I submitted two projects that I was actively working on at the time, largely just maintaining: AsbestOS (yes, those were the PS3 Linux days) and usbmuxd (iPhone USB comms daemon, you probably have it if you have Ubuntu!).
They also said it wasn't during work hours or on googles equipment.
Though, honestly, I doubt I really even agree on the equipment clause when it. When said equipment is a laptop and a phone, using their device would be more about not wanting to carry multiple devices than any interstice value gained by the equipment.
Re: Google claims copyright on employee side projects
#18Honestly, what kind of side projects can one conceivably have working a full time job that mist often involves overtime? Let's be realistic here. Chances are you're not being a competent employee if you can manage to devote brain cells to more programming outside of work, or you're likely hyped up on the adderalls, which more than likely will lead to amphetamine psychosis in the long run.
Please stop projecting your own shortcomings onto other developers. It is completely possible to have meaningful side projects and many people love doing it.
Re: Google claims copyright on employee side projects
#19TRWTF is doing the IARC process. The author should have just "failed" to declare it.
Then when it came for the exit interview, not mention their side projects.
Keep calm and carry on.
Re: Google claims copyright on employee side projects
#20Does society accept this behaviour outside tech? Imagine that a Michelin restaurant would claim copyright on the dishes cooked by the chef in his spare time. Or that the big farm would ask for a piece of those carrots grown in the back yard.
Wait on earth would a Michelin restaurant be able to ‚claim copyright‘ on what one of their chefs does in his free time?
As long as said cook doesn‘t say „Michelin star chef from Restaurant X is offering you this dish‘ (which would possibly be a trademark issue, but still not copyright) I don‘t see how this could possibly be forbidden.
Everybody is allowed to have more than one job if they please. It‘s just that software ‚creations‘ outside of work are trying to be owned by the (main) employer company.