On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 6:38 PM, Robin H. Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 06:14:23PM -0800, Matt Turner wrote: >> On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 3:57 PM, Greg KH <[email protected]> wrote: >> > Just ask anyone who has had to get their company to sign the FSF >> > copyright assignment paperwork, for just how hard that was, and how long >> > it took. >> It took my university, who had no rational reason to own any of my >> work, six months to sign the FSF's paperwork for a really simple bug >> fix. By the time they decided they didn't care about owning my work, >> it was April and I was graduating in May. They seriously asked me >> whether I would just wait to submit the work until after I graduated >> since it would be so much easier for them. > What was your university's claim to ownership of the bugfix?
That as a requirement for entrance into grad school I signed paperwork that allows them to claim ownership over things I do under some set of conditions. As it were, - I wasn't a researcher, - I wasn't paid by the University, - I didn't do the work for the University - I didn't do the work with anyone from the University, - I didn't do the work with on University time, and - I didn't do the work with any University property. They basically wanted to confirm this (I guess). The first three they could actually confirm, and the last three they'd just have to take my word. > If they had a copyright claim because you worked on using school > systems, during paid time, then it shouldn't have made any difference > you were graduating: they would still own the code after you graduated. > Similarly for any all-encompassing clauses like those found in some US > employment contracts. > > So, if were able to submit it on your own after graduating, I don't see > why you couldn't have done that prior to graduating. Of course. This was part of why the process was so ridiculous. The whole system for releasing potentially University-owned intellectual property is designed for the case that a University researcher wants the University to disclaim ownership of something that they did. It's massive overkill for a free software hobbyist who wants to submit a 20-line bug fix to gcc.
