Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!cmcl2!nrl-cmf!ames!amdahl!nsc!voder!apple!dwb
From: dwb@apple.UUCP (David W. Berry)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Shareware Curiousity
Message-ID: <7287@apple.UUCP>
Date: 28 Jan 88 22:10:02 GMT
References: <7982@eleazar.Dartmouth.EDU> <3622@h.cc.purdue.edu>
Reply-To: dwb@apple.UUCP (David W. Berry)
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, USA
Lines: 40

In article <3622@h.cc.purdue.edu> ac5@h.cc.purdue.edu.UUCP (Rex Bontrager) writes:
>In article <7982@eleazar.Dartmouth.EDU> merchant@eleazar.Dartmouth.EDU (Peter Merchant) writes:
>>c) I have a Macintosh sitting on my desk that is owned by my employer.  I
>>write that neat program and charge money for it and I get a significant amount
>>of money for it, is my employer entitled to some percentage of that money
>>because I used their machine for the development, even if the program was not
>>developed on the employers time?  The employer did, after all, provide the
>>machine, the electricity to run the machine, the heat for the office that the
>>machine is in, etcetera, etcetera...
>
>The discussion from point (b) probably applies here also.  If your 
>employer is friendly and benevolent, they might allow you to have full
>ownership; but that is rare.  It is also rare for them to even allow
>you to use their machines and maintain partial ownership.  The usual
>practice is the same as stated above:  "If you used our resources,
>then we FULLY own the creation."
	Note that this is also very dependent on the employer.  At places
which understand and to some extent, expect their employees to be writing
software, I've found it works something like:

	a)  Software written on their machines and/or time, they own
	fully, although they may be kind enough to waive that ownership
	after the fact.

	b)  Software written on my machine and time, they either own
	outright (rarely) or have some rights to.  Apple retains the
	"right to first refusal" on this stuff.  In otherwords I have
	to take it to apple to see if they want to buy it before I can
	take it elsewheres.

	In case A, the default in lieu of some specific agreement to
the contrary would seem to be that the company owns the stuff.  In case
b, the default would seem to be that I own the stuff.  By the way, this
whole discussion also applies to things like patentable inventions.
-- 
	David W. Berry
	dwb@well.uucp                   dwb@Delphi
	dwb@apple.com                   973-5168@408.MaBell
Disclaimer: Apple doesn't even know I have an opinion and certainly
	wouldn't want if they did.