[plug] Intellectual Property

[Mike from West Australia]

<hrrrm> If there's no current dispute and your ex employer is not in that
business then in all probability you own the rights

:-)

rgds

Mike
'probability' being the operative phrase ;)


At 06:47 PM 3/8/2000 +0800, you wrote:
>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!
>
>
>