I'm in exactly that position. I volunteer my time to do the site for the Avro Museum (www.avromuseum.ca) (shameless plug, I know...). I apply a great deal of what I've learned at work to this site. So, technically, my employer can make a case for "owning" that work. (oh, I'm salaried too, with a clause in my contract saying the company owns ANY code I write).
However, They knew when I was hired that I was working on this site. As an added bonus, a lot of the problems I've had to deal with for the web site were directly applicable to my work as well. So in effect, they didn't have to pay the R&D time to resolve these problems. End result is that the company benifits because I'm working on this site, and the Avro Museum benifits because of the nature of my work. Nice trade off here. The catch is that my company is aware of my work, and knows that I am not competing with them. Once they have any suspicion that I'm competing (i.e. If I start making money for my volunteer work...) then they have a legitimate beef against me. But I don't let it get there - I talk to the boss about anything that might be considered a conflict before undertaking it, and he's normally very agreeable. My thoughts. Shawn Grover -----Original Message----- From: Haggerty, Mike [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 11:42 AM To: CF-Talk Subject: RE: Intellectual property (was RE: programmer vs. developer) Wow, that is restrictive! What if you wanted to work on a freelance project outside of work, maybe for charity or something. Does the company own that code and do you have it in writing that they do? M -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 1:08 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: RE: Intellectual property (was RE: programmer vs. developer) "little shops" don't really have an intellectual property agreement, but none the less... their term of "everything you develop for us" is rather broad in scope... some assume that it also covers off-hour times, some assume that as a salaried employee, you're never 'off', you're just not at your desk (e.g. You've been given permission to physically leave the building). ~Todd On Thu, 29 Aug 2002, Matt Liotta wrote: > You should have signed an intellectual property agreement when you were > hired. It details you rights in this regard. As with all legal matters, > you are advised to seek counsel from a professional. > > Matt Liotta > President & CEO > Montara Software, Inc. > http://www.montarasoftware.com/ > V: 415-577-8070 > F: 415-341-8906 > P: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 9:02 AM > > To: CF-Talk > > Subject: Intellectual property (was RE: programmer vs. developer) > > > > <quote> > > "Finally, I think this expectation that most of us have about being a > > programmer 24/7 demonstrates the relative immaturity of our field; > after > > all, it really should be just like any other job, instead of being a > hobby > > that you happen to get paid for. Sure, it's nice to enjoy your work, > but > > work is just one part of the life of a well-rounded person." > > > > Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software > > </quote> > > > > Dave, > > > > Curious question for you. To those of us that enjoy programming as a > > hobby and actually do research on our own outside of work time. How > does > > intellectual property fit into this. The reason why I bring this up > is > > because well, due to the immaturity of most comapnies wanting their > > developers to work 24/7, basically anything I concieve of is by right > of > > employment contract, theirs. In their eyes, a salaried employee is > > something akin to a ... well... a wageslave. > > > > Take the little company I work for. They'd love it if I worked for > them > > 24/7. The partners would get a kick out of it, especially if they > could > > purchase another SUV within a few months. However, I have been > hesitant > > to hand over anything, but at times, I've had no choice due to the > lack of > > time they give me for a particular project. My methodology for > example. > > The project manager basically scoped out what he felt my co-worker and > I > > were developing, asked me to read this over and ... published it on > the > > intranet. At the same time, I'm thinking to myself, why did I just do > > that? What did I gain from it? I got no recognition for it, I got > > nothing. So, if I were to ever break away from my current job, I'd be > > pretty screwed if they found out that I'm still using 'my' so called > > methodology for future clients. > > > > I'm very concerned about the future and maturity level of the so > called > > "internet/development" companies out there. How does figleaf handle > > creative ideas like this? > > > > Case in point, Branden Hall. I'm sure he cranks out actionscripting > code > > all day long and posts code left and right and handles what he can to > help > > people out. How does Figleaf distinguish between his intellectual > > property and commercial value? Does Branden run every little script > of > > code over to someone at figleaf and ask for permission to release it? > If > > Figleaf uses his code that he wrote on his time, does he get > compensated? > > recognized? Does Figleaf automatically by default suck in his code > into > > their intellectual property library because it was used that one time? > > > > Just curious, > > ~Todd > > > > -- > > ============================================================ > > Todd Rafferty ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) - http://www.web-rat.com/ | > > Team Macromedia Volunteer for ColdFusion | > > http://www.macromedia.com/support/forums/team_macromedia/ | > > http://www.flashCFM.com/ - webRat (Moderator) | > > http://www.ultrashock.com/ - webRat (Back-end Moderator) | > > ============================================================ > > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
