I worked for a company going through bankruptcy. Alvarez & Marsal were brought in to run the bankruptcy process. First thing they wanted was for all of us to sign a non disclosure agreement. The penalty was harsh. They could literally sue you and take your assets. I refused to sign. Approximately 10 people refused. The 10 of us then had a meeting with Tony Alvarez where he said non disclosure statements were SOP and it really didn’t give them the power to make your life a living h*ll. I didn’t believe him. In the end, I was the only one to not sign. One of the best decisions I ever made. Unions would prevent such abuses of power.
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone On Tuesday, December 19, 2023, 9:28 AM, Seymour J Metz <[email protected]> wrote: In the US it varies by state, but in general the company can require what it wants. If you refuse to sign, they may negotiate or may refuse to hire you. Certain contract terms, e.g., yellow dog (non-compete) are illegal in some states. Software is subject to multiple forms of IP protection, e.g., copyright, patent, trademark, and some open source licenses depend on copyright law. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי נֵ֣צַח יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֥א יְשַׁקֵּ֖ר ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> on behalf of Dean Kent <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, December 4, 2023 9:32 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Assembler programmer wanted You are a person. People have rights, objects do not. The company can require that you assign them the rights to any invention created using the things they paid for - computers, software, offices, books. Training/experience is more of a gray area in my mind. Note that software used to be copyrightable - not patentable. That changed in the 80s, I believe. If you've ever looked into patenting something, you would see that the inventor has to be a person (not a company) - while the assignee is the 'owner' of the property. That's my recollection and understanding. On 12/4/2023 7:53 AM, Bob Bridges wrote: > Ok, now you've got me curious. While I'm employed by a California software > company, I ~am~ a company resource, am I not? How is the law worded to > bypass that (so to speak)? > > --- > Bob Bridges, [email protected], cell 336 382-7313 > > /* A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged > tool that grows keener with constant use. -from "Rip van Vinkle" by > Washington Irving */ > > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> On Behalf Of > Dean Kent > Sent: Monday, December 4, 2023 09:48 > > ....As part of the employment agreement for this acquiring company we had to > sign a contract that stated anything we thought, said, did, wrote, or > otherwise created - whether at work or at home - while employed was owned by > the company....[But] State laws prevented them from snatching ownership for > most of what they were claiming. California law, to the best of my > knowledge, does give the employer ownership of an invention/product if it was > developed using company resources, and/or > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
