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From: chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach)
Newsgroups: net.micro.mac
Subject: Re: Company/Employee rights to home developed MAC software
Message-ID: <2691@nsc.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 11-May-85 00:16:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: nsc.2691
Posted: Sat May 11 00:16:26 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 11-May-85 15:20:35 EDT
References: <2024@decwrl.UUCP> <1521@hao.UUCP>
Reply-To: chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach)
Organization: The Courts of Chaos
Lines: 46
Summary: 

In article <1521@hao.UUCP> ward@hao.UUCP (Mike Ward) writes:
>> 
>>      I work for Digital Equip. Corp. as a software engineer. I have been
>> told by my manager, who has consulted with the DEC's legal department, that
>> DEC owns all software that I develop at home on my MAC.
>
>Unless you specifically signed an agreement giving away your
>rights to software you develop on your own time, DEC does not
>own it.  Even if you did sign such an agreement, it probably
>has no legal standing (contracts we don't sign seem to be worth
>a lot more than contracts we do).  I seem to remember reading
>about several cases where agreements like this have been tossed
>out.  Of course there's the moral issue, if you freely agreed.

A lot of companies, unfortunately, DO have you sign your life away when you
go on board with them. I on one occasion refused to interview with a firm
(much less hire on) when I saw their proprietary rights document. Don't
assume that they can't enforce it -- chances are that if you don't use
company time, company resourcs or proprietary knowledge that they can't
make it stick, but either way they CAN make it expensive if they decide to
push the issue. 

Talk to your supervisor. Better yet, talk to Legal and get a clarification.
Find out exactly what they do or don't own, and make sure they understand
your situation so they can make an intelligent decision. Make sure you get
it in writing, of course, and in your private files (and, if possible, the
company files). If you can't come to an agreement, make sure you are on
record as being unhappy with the situation, perhaps to the point of
bitching to the higher mucky mucks (like Ken Olson, perhaps) about the
situation. If you REALLY feed like you can't live with it, you can attempt
to negotiate a special arrangement on things. If the company values you,
they should be willing to come up with a compromise. If not, you're going
to have to either back down or play the bluff and change jobs.

What you should NOT do is ignore the situation. If they find out and decide
to pursue things, it can get really nasty, and you want to avoid it. If the
proprietary rights agreement really does own your firstborn programmed
child, then you SHOULD bitch, because it might give them the idea that this
is something to be changed... Come to think of it, everyone under one of
these silly clauses should bitch, whether or not it really applies to
them...
-- 
:From the offices of Pagans for Cthulhu:          Chuq Von Rospach
{cbosgd,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!chuqui   nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA

Who shall forgive the unrepentant?