[plug] Intellectual Property

[alan howard]

On Thu, 03 Aug 2000, Leon Brooks wrote:
> Bret Busby wrote:
> > alan howard wrote:
> >> On Wed, 02 Aug 2000, skribe wrote:
> >>> At 19:31 2/08/00, Alex Polglaze wrote:
> >>>> The person who writes the code owns the code
> >>>> irrespective of who paid for it.
> 
> >>> My patent attorney begs to differ =).
> 
> >> on this subject, if i creat[e], devolop and design
> >> som[e]thing that[']s related to my work during my own
> >> time do I or my employer own the rights to what I've
> >> created. (even if I didnt get paid for it). I rem[em]ber
> >> reading some where that my employer does , unless its
> >> totally unrelated to work. is this correct ?
> 
> > Correct
..
my question here was generic, ie not just applying to software , but hardware
as well. 
several years ago I designed a ultra low THD Linear UHF power
amplifier for digital TV during my spare time at home,. my question here is do
I own the rights to it or does my previous employer ,(who I was employed by
at the time) or my current employer, or do I. ( sorry for being off subject). 


  > Sorry, Alex is right, the MBA book is lying. It's been tested in >
practice and the author owns the software, regardless of whether it was >
written at home or at work. If this worries your employer, sign (and > date) a
document saying that you resign all rights to the software in > favour of the
employer (or, grant unlimited rights of use and, > modification, copying and
distribution to the employer). The document > must nominate *specific* items of
software, a general disclaimer is not > much use in court. > 
> > It is a matter of duty of fidelity, from what I understand.
> 
> Fidelity is all very well, but if the employer pays you to write
> software, he is paying you for the *writing*, NOT the *software*. You
> have exercised your fidelity by doing the writing. If he wants the
> software as well, you must sign it over to him.
> 
> > This, I believe, on the basis of a text that is used as the
> > textbook in an MBA unit
> 
> You can't believe everything you read, Brett. For example, you may
> choose to not believe this email.
> 
> > Disclaimer:
> > The above, is stated as my opinion, based on my experience,
> > and, advice of others, and, in reading materials on the
> > issues of Duty of Fidelity and Intellectual Property. I am
> > not a qualified lawyer, nor, a qualified practitioner in
> > the area of law known as Intellectual Property, nor do I
> > purport to be either of these. I do not purport the above
> > references to the status of the law to be absolute truths,
> > but instead, to be my understanding, of applicable rights
> > and obligations. I assume no responsibility for any person
> > acting on this information, and any person taking any
> > actions, based on the above information, so does at their
> > own risk.
> 
> Uh, "This entire email may be a work of fiction, but I do not guarantee
> that." Look, I saved about 500 bytes (from certain death, no doubt)!
> 
> --
> If at first you don't succeed, try a shorter bungee!